Honduras interim government open to early election

Zelaya's wife and youngest son were staying at the U.S. ambassador's house in Tegucigalpa.

"For the outside world, it is difficult to explain why he was taken in his pyjamas at gun-point and sent into exile. But there really was no other option," said Santiago Ruiz, who heads a local agriculture and ranchers' association.

The European Union has condemned the coup and EU president Sweden said all the bloc's ambassadors had left Honduras.

No foreign government has talked of sanctions against Honduras but Central American neighbours suspended border trade for two days this week. Any economic embargo could harm coffee supplies, which have so far been untouched by the turmoil.

The Honduran Congress approved a decree on Wednesday to crack down on the opposition during a nightly curfew imposed after the coup. The decree allows security forces to hold suspects for more than 24 hours without charge and formalizes the prohibition of the right to free association at night.

(Additional reporting by Patrick Markey and Anahi Rama in Tegucigalpa; Sharief Khan in Guyana and Sean Mattson in Panama City; Writing by Alistair Bell and Catherine Bremer; Editing by Vicki Allen)