Protests erupt, gunshots heard after Honduras coup

Hundreds of pro-Zelaya protesters, some of them masked and wielding sticks, set up barricades in the centre of the capital, Tegucigalpa, and sealed off road access to the presidential palace.

A Reuters witness said several shots were heard outside the presidential palace and an ambulance was seen arriving at the scene. It was not clear if anyone was injured or who fired the shots.

Zelaya, in office since 2006, was ousted in a dawn coup after he upset the judiciary, Congress and the army by seeking constitutional changes that would allow presidents to seek re-election beyond a four-year term.

Congress named an interim president, Roberto Micheletti, who announced a curfew for Sunday and Monday nights. The country's top court said it had told the army to remove Zelaya.

The coup was strongly condemned by Zelaya's regional ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -- who has long championed the left in Latin America. Chavez put his military on alert in case Honduran troops moved against his embassy or envoy there.

U.S. President Barack Obama's administration, the European Union and a string of other foreign governments also voiced backing for Zelaya, who was snatched by troops from his residence and whisked away by plane to Costa Rica.

The Organisation of American States demanded Zelaya's immediate and unconditional return.

Honduras, an impoverished coffee, textile and banana exporter with a population of 7 million, had been politically stable since the end of military rule in the early 1980s.

But Zelaya has moved the country further left since taking power and struck up a close alliance with Chavez, upsetting the army and the traditionally conservative rich elite.