Deposed President Zelaya Blocked From Landing In Honduras

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.

Mr. Zelaya, in a live interview with Venezuela's state-run Telesur network as his plane was circling the runway, said it was too dangerous to land. He said he would likely return to Washington in the coming days to seek a solution to the crisis. "If I had a parachute, I would jump," he said. When told of the violence below, Mr. Zelaya blasted the provisional government. "This is a barbarity what is happening in Honduras," he said, calling on President Barack Obama to take more drastic measures against the interim government, including economic measures, to show that the coup couldn't stand. "Otherwise, it's the death of democracy in the Americas," he said.

Clashes broke out Sunday afternoon between police and soldiers and the huge crowd of Zelaya supporters surrounding Tegucigalpa's international airport. At least one man was killed — shot in the head from inside the airport as people tried to break through a security fence, according to an Associated Press photographer at the scene.

The Red Cross identified him as a 19-year-old from Zelaya's home province of Olancho.

At least 30 people were treated for injuries, the Red Cross said, after security forces fired warning shots and tear gas.