Honduran President Manuel Zelaya fired the military chief of staff and accepted the defense minister's resignation.

Zelaya told national television late on Wednesday the shake-up was due "to a crisis caused by some sectors that have promoted destabilization and chaos."

The leader of a small political party on Wednesday had warned that Zelaya could be removed in a coup because of the controversial referendum scheduled for Sunday, which a court has already ruled invalid.

"The most worrisome part is that today we have seen some threats of a coup against Zelaya," said Cesar Ham, who heads the leftist Democratic Unification Party.

Zelaya is organizing the referendum to change the constitution to let him run for a second term.

A source in the presidency said the removal of Gen. Romeo Vasquez, who heads the armed forces, was because the military refused to distribute ballot boxes for Sunday's referendum, as is customary in Honduran elections.

Defense Minister Edmundo Orellana also quit in the shake-up.

Honduran presidents serve four-year terms and the constitution does not allow re-election.

Reuters