News In Brief
| Tegucigalpa, Honduras
US churchwomen denied in Honduras peace vigil
Police in helicopters and cars surrounded an airplane with 68 American churchwomen aboard Monday and forced it to fly back to the US. The women had flown to the Honduran capital to take part in planned peace vigils along Honduras's border with Nicaragua.
One hundred other churchwomen were not allowed to board a plane to Honduras from New Orleans. The vigils were canceled.
Honduran presidential spokesman Amilcar Santamaria told reporters the churchwomen were refused entry because they planned political acts and had obtained tourist visas under false pretenses.