Honduras Turns Away Zelaya's Plane; Protester Killed

By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 5, 2009 6:49 PM CDT
Honduras Turns Away Zelaya's Plane; Protester Killed
Honduran national police leave their positions as thousands of supporters of ousted Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya march towards the international airport in Tegucigalpa, Sunday, July 5, 2009.   (Eduardo Verdugo)

Ousted president Manuel Zelaya says he can't land at the main Honduras airport because soldiers are blocking the runway with several military vehicles. Groups of police and soldiers are also facing off against thousands of Zelaya supporters around the airfield. Speaking live from the plane carrying him back to Tegucigalpa, Zelaya asked that soldiers return their allegiance to him, "in the name of God, in the name of the people, and in the name of justice."

But the politicians who ousted him aren't backing down, and violence broke out among the huge crowd surrounding the airport, with at least one person killed so far. The man was shot in the head by gunfire from inside the airport as people tried to break through a security fence. Security forces fired warning shots and tear gas, and some Zelaya supporters threw rocks and set a fire. A spokesman said the Red Cross was treating about 30 people for injuries. (More Manuel Zelaya stories.)

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