Honduras’ Interim
President Imposes Curfew
Honduran
Interim President Roberto Micheletti has imposed a
24- hour curfew, hours after being sworn in.
Mr Micheletti told a news conference that a
nationwide curfew was being imposed for Sunday and
Monday.
In a speech, he said that he had not assumed power
"under the ignominy of a coup d'etat" but that the
army had complied with the constitution.
Congress says Micheletti will serve until January 27
when Mr Zelaya's term was due to expire.
Presidential elections are planned for 29 November
and the Interim President has promised that they
would go ahead.
The Ouster
The removal of elected leader Manuel Zelaya came
amid a power struggle over his plans for
constitutional change.
Mr Zelaya, who had been in office since 2006, wanted
to hold a referendum that could have led to an
extension of his non-renewable four-year term.
Polls for the referendum had been due to open early
on Sunday, but just before dawn, troops stormed the
president's residence.
There was confusion over his whereabouts for several
hours before he turned up in Costa Rica.
Bone of contention
Both the congress and the courts had opposed Mr
Zelaya's referendum, which asked Hondurans to
endorse a vote on unspecified constitutional changes
alongside the November elections.
Tensions over the issue had been escalating for
several days, with the army refusing to help with
preparations for the referendum.
Appeal
Mr Zelaya called his ouster "a plot by a very
voracious elite which wanted only to keep this
country isolated, in an extreme level of poverty."
He urged Hondurans to resist those who had removed
him.
Late on Sunday, he flew to Nicaragua for a meeting
of regional leaders.
Reactions
The ousting of Manuel Zelaya has been criticised by
regional neighbours, the United States and the
United Nations.
The Organization of American States held an
emergency meeting while the UN Secretary General,
Ban Ki-moon called for "the reinstatement of the
democratically elected representatives of the
country."
US President Barack Obama urged Honduras to "respect
the rule of law" and a State Department official
said America recognised Mr Zelaya as the duly
elected president.
The European Union called for "a swift return to
constitutional normality,”
BBC/Qasim/Yinka