According to reports from Nicaraguan media, the Honduran de facto government has reinforced security at its borders with Nicaragua by deploying police agents and soldiers in the area.
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A supporter of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya wave flag on the road in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on July 23, 2009. Thousands of Zelaya's supporters took control of many major roads leading to the border from Honduras capital Tegucigalpa, hoping this action would make the interim government accept Zelaya's return to the country. [David De La Paz/Xinhua]
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Nicaraguan media also reported that Honduran migration offices in the area have stopped providing service to the public Thursday.
The government also announced that from Thursday on, the curfew will be extended in Honduras' border areas, in response to claims by Zelaya to return home.
The curfew lasts from 6:00 p.m. (0000 GMT) to 6:00 a.m. (1200 GMT) in border areas, and 12:00 p.m. (0600 GMT) to 4:30 a.m. (1030 GMT) in the rest of the country, it said.
Nicaraguan Interior Minister Ana Isabel Morales said there were reported movements of Honduran soldiers and policemen at the border.
"We are observing the situation to take the necessary measures to guarantee the security of our citizens," Morales said.
Appeals from int'l community
Earlier in the day, the UN Security Council said it would intervene in Honduras' political crisis to seek a solution only when Arias did not have more proposals.
Regional blocs like the Organization of American States (OAS) should intervene first, the Council said, adding that if they failed, it would consider taking measures to mediate the crisis.
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Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya arrives at the Honduras embassy in Managua July 23, 2009. [Xinhua]
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In Washington, US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Zelaya's return to Honduras was "not prudent".
"Any step that can add a risk of violence in Honduras or the area is not prudent," he told reporters.
Crowley said the US government hoped that both sides would "take the opportunity of solving the crisis in a pacific way."
Also on Thursday, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet urged the OAS to take measures to avoid a bloodbath in Honduras.
"If Arias mediation failed, we think that now the OAS has to take all the extra measures needed to achieve the fulfillment of the resolutions approved by the Extraordinary General Assembly … for the Honduran people to restore democracy," Bachelet said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2009)
