Paul,
You can avoid OpenSSL errors by using curl as http library. IIRC I've had same problem when accessing https over http proxy, that' was my primary motivation to write libcurl patch.
I checked the ./configure --help and didn't see an option for this. The SSL problem is one high on my list as it breaks all webmail schemes (ie. Hotmail, Yahoo!, etc.). Realistically though, I'd rather that the native Kannel library be fixed so I can stay 'mainstream' with the options I build in my copy of Kannel. Looks like from the other e-mails going around Stipe's working on just that. :)
Jon