Deposed Honduran president Manuel Zelaya has made an appeal for help to the United Nations General Assembly in New York from the Brazilian embassy in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, where he has sought shelter.

The former president called on the UN to help reverse the military coup which took place three months ago. He said that the government installed by the military is a dictatorship, is abusing human rights and has imposed censorship. Earlier, in an interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Mr Zelaya said his life was in danger. He predicted that the Honduran military would enter the embassy by force and arrest him.

The Brazilian embassy is surrounded by hundreds of soldiers and the Honduran government is demanding that he be handed over. The Honduran authorities said on Monday that it will revoke Brazil's right to have a diplomatic mission if it does not do so.

Last week, the former president secretly returned from exile in Nicaragua and sought shelter in the Brazilian embassy. Although the United States government has demanded his reinstatement it is taking a more ambiguous stance than other countries in Central and South America which are calling for more rigorous action. They say he should be reinstated and serve out his term which ends in January. The US ambassador to the Organisation of American States Lewis Anselem described his return to Honduras as "irresponsible and foolish".

Mr Zelaya was ousted on the eve of a referendum which would have allowed him to run for another term in office. Although he was previously considered a right-wing politician, in recent years he has befriended left-wing leaders in the region such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

On Monday Honduran soldiers shut down two media outlets which support the former president and are critical of the de facto government of President Roberto Micheletti. Radio Globo and the television station Cholusat Sur were closed on the basis of a government decree issued on Sunday suspending a number of civil rights and media freedom.
 

Manuel Zelaya in Brazilian embassy
Photo by ANP