Zelaya in El Salvador as protests turn deadly

6 Jul 2009, 3:22 pm   -   Source: AFP
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Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya arrived in El Salvador for regional talks, as two protesters are killed in Honduras' capital.

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Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya arrived in El Salvador late Sunday for talks with the head of the Organization of American States and other regional leaders.
  
He was due to meet here with OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza and Presidents Cristina Kirchner of Argentina and Rafael Correa of Ecuador, the presidency announced.
  
Zelaya arrived here after making a failed attempt to return to Honduras where he was ousted in a military coup a week ago.
  
His plane had tried in vain to land at the airport in Tegucigalpa, but at least half a dozen military vehicles blocked the only runway at the airport, while tens of thousands of his supporters demonstrated outside.

Tear gas fired

Troops fired tear gas and shot on angry protesters trying to break into airport, killing two and injuring at least two others, police said, ahead of Zelaya's much-anticipated arrival.
  
In a dramatic climax to the day's tensions, at least half a dozen military vehicles from the same army that sent Zelaya away in his pajamas one week ago blocked the runway as Zelaya's plane circled overhead.
  
Zelaya spoke live from the airplane on Venezuela's Telesur television, rebroadcast on CNN in Spanish.
  
"I'm doing everything I can," Zelaya said. "If I had a parachute I would immediately jump out of this plane."

US 'must take responsibility'
  
Zelaya said he would denounce the situation in Honduras to the international community.
  
"From tomorrow the responsibility will fall on the powers, particularly the United States," Zelaya added.
  
Zelaya was due to join the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador and Paraguay, who shortly beforehand landed in El Salvador, according to local press, along with the head of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza.
  
The pan-American OAS suspended Honduras in an emergency session the previous night, after the interim leaders refused to reinstall Zelaya.

Troops 'nearing Honduran border'  

Interim leader Roberto Micheletti ramped up tensions Sunday by alleging that Nicaraguan troops were moving toward the countries' joint border, a claim Nicaraguan military immediately denied.
  
"We have been informed that in the sector of Nicaragua, some troops are moving toward the border," Micheletti said in a televised news conference.
  
In Managua, Nicaraguan general Adolfo Zepeda shot back that the information was "totally false." 
 

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