Moscow condemns Honduran coup, calls for restoration of law

MOSCOW, June 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia condemns the coup d'etat in Honduras and calls for the restoration of law and order in the country, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Parliamentary speaker Roberto Micheletti was sworn in as president of the Central American state on Sunday after President Jose Manuel Zelaya was deposed in a coup. The military's action, apparently supported by the country's Supreme Court, has been condemned across the world.

"All actions by political players in the country must lie within the bounds of the law and the constitution," Andrei Nesterenko said.

He said Russia welcomed the efforts by regional organizations and groups trying "to work out a solution within the framework of international law."

The embassies of the member countries of the regional Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) backed Russia's condemnation, the Cuban ambassador said at a news conference in Moscow.

Juan Valdes Figueroa said the ALBA diplomatic missions called for "a complete reinstatement of the Manuel Zelaya government," stressing that the coup violated "the fundamental norms of international law."

Honduran military arrested Zelaya on Sunday morning, hours before polls were due to open for a non-binding referendum on ending the restriction on presidents serving one four-year term.

Honduras' Supreme Court had ruled the referendum illegal. The president was arrested at his residence and transported aboard a military plane to Costa Rica in what was Central America's first coup since the end of the Cold War.

Micheletti promised Monday that presidential polls would go ahead as scheduled on November 29, a Venezuelan paper said.

World leaders have condemned the coup, with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging "the reinstatement of the democratically elected representatives of the country."

U.S. President Barack Obama has called on the coup leaders to "respect the rule of law."

Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, the president of the UN General Assembly, on Monday invited Zelaya to come to New York and speak at an extraordinary session of the assembly.