The South American trade bloc Mercosur announced yesterday that it will not recognise the results of Honduras' post-coup election because the country refused to let ousted President Manuel Zelaya return and serve out his term.

Mercosur "emphatically refuses to recognise the results of elections held ... in an unconstitutional, illegitimate and illegal environment," the group said in a statement read by Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez, whose nation hosted the summit. Mercosur members also include Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.

Soldiers roused Zelaya from his bed and flew him out of the country in a June 28 coup supported by the Honduran Congress and the Supreme Court after he refused to drop a referendum aimed at rewriting the constitution.