[usatramadolusa]

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (CNN) -- A jet carrying deposed Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya was unable to land at Tegucigalpa's airport Sunday evening amid a tense standoff between government troops and Zelaya's supporters.


A protester rallies in support of ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya on Sunday in Tegucigalpa.

1 of 3 Zelaya told the news network Telesur that he was denied permission to land the jet in Tegucigalpa, where military vehicles were arrayed on the runway.

Soldiers lined barricades surrounding the airport in expectation of clashes between Zelaya's supporters and the provisional government that has vowed to keep him from coming back from a weeklong exile.

Before the arrival, police fired warning shots and tear gas at protesters, injuring at least one person, protest organizers said. Several thousand demonstrators who ringed the airport had vowed to protect Zelaya with a human cordon if he landed.

The small jet was transporting Zelaya and United Nations General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto from Washington. The U.N. General Assembly condemned the June 28 military-led coup last week and demanded that Zelaya be reinstated.

Before the jet reached Tegucigalpa's airspace, Civil Aviation Director Alfredo San Martin said in a radio address that the ousted leader's flight would be barred from landing in Honduras and diverted to El Salvador.

At a news conference, provisional President Roberto Micheletti said Zelaya's return could create unrest in a country that has seen demonstrators for both sides in the streets since the coup.

"I don't want a single drop of blood to be spilled in Honduras," Micheletti said.

Don't Miss
Honduras suspended from OAS
New leaders reject appeal for Zelaya's return
U.S. 'hits the pause button' on aid to Honduras
iReport.com: Pro-Zelaya protesters take to streets
The leftist Zelaya was ousted in a military-led coup on the same day he planned to follow through with a referendum that the courts and the congress had ruled illegal and that the military said it would not support. The Honduran Congress voted to strip Zelaya of his powers and named Micheletti as provisional president.

A delegation supporting Zelaya, including the head of the Organization of American States and Presidents Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina, Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, were to fly on a separate plane heading to neighboring El Salvador.

Speaking aboard the jet before it reached Tegucigalpa's airspace, Zelaya told Telesur TV that he intended to land in his native country.

"I am the commander in chief of the armed forces elected by the people, and I ask the armed forces to comply with this order to open up the airport and avoid any problems with the landing," Zelaya said.

In a conference call with journalists, senior U.S. administration officials -- who insisted on anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivities -- said that Zelaya is expected to be back in Washington on Monday, if he is denied entry, to continue conversations at the OAS.

Sunday's political standoff follows a vote Saturday by the OAS to suspend Honduras from the organization after the provisional government failed to respond to a 72-hour deadline to restore Zelaya as president.

The OAS had demanded Zelaya's return in a resolution. Following a visit to Honduras, OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said he found Micheletti's government "extremely firm" and "inflexible."

Micheletti and his supporters have repudiated the characterization of the transfer of power as a coup.

The provisional government maintains the military action against Zelaya was backed by a court order and that arrest warrants have been issued against him for violating the constitution.

But Micheletti is swimming against world opinion.

The U.N. General Assembly condemned the coup last week and demanded that Zelaya be reinstated.

The European Union and other nations have recalled their ambassadors from Honduras, and the United States and the World Bank have suspended some aid.

In his remarks Sunday, Micheletti extended a diplomatic branch to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, two of Zelaya's closest allies. Micheletti also said small groups of Nicaraguan soldiers were mobilizing on the Honduran border, something that Ortega denied.

Micheletti said his government was open to "good faith" talks with the OAS, but reiterated that his government was legitimate and would not be moved.

"We are going to remain here until the country becomes calm," he said.


After 18 years of nearly uninterrupted military rule, Honduras returned to civilian control in 1981. Since then, the military has not seemed interested in holding power in the nation of more than 7 million people, about 70 percent of whom live in poverty.

Military interventions were once common in Latin America, but civilian governments have held sway since the 1980s. Before Sunday, the only other barracks revolt this decade was an unsuccessful 2002 coup attempt against Chavez, when the military displaced him but backed down days later and allowed his reinstatement.

The borders between Nicuragua and Honduras are not traditional borders but more so change with the flow of rivers and streams down there.

Prayers are for peace so that innocent people do not become victims and pawns in the sorted affair