One dead as troops fire at president's supporters

Published on Monday 6 July 2009 01:41

AT LEAST one person was killed and two were badly wounded in Honduras last night when protesters demanding the return of ousted president Manuel Zelaya clashed with troops at the main airport in the capital, a medical worker and emergency services at the scene reported last night.

Several hundred troops fanned out around the runway to protect the airport in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa. Clashes erupted after protesters broke through fencing near the runway, with troops and police firing tear gas to try to disperse the crowds.

The violence came as Mr Zelaya was refused permission to land, fuelling tensions over the coup that ousted him a week ago.

As Mr Zelaya's plane headed toward the city's airport from Washington, troops blocked the runway, forcing it to divert to neighbouring El Salvador.

Mr Zelaya, a leftist who had been due to leave power in 2010, was pushed out of office by troops and flown into exile in Costa Rica a week ago in a coup triggered by a dispute over presidential term limits.

The coup has spiralled into Central America's worst political crisis in two decades, testing regional diplomacy and raising a challenge for the Obama administration.

Underscoring regional tensions stoked by the coup, interim president Roberto Micheletti said small groups of Nicaraguan troops were moving near their mutual border.

He urged Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega, a leftist ally of Mr Zelaya, to respect Honduran sovereignty.

"We have been informed about movement of troops to the frontier in Nicaragua, and I ask Mr Ortega to respect our sovereignty," Mr Micheletti said.