June 29 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said today that Manuel Zelaya remains the president of Honduras and his ouster by that nation’s military “was not legal.”

“All of us have great concerns” about the situation in Honduras, Obama said after meeting at the White House with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said earlier that democracy should be restored in Honduras, and she encouraged international mediation among the country’s factions to bridge political differences. Clinton said at the State Department that a delegation would go to Honduras after a special meeting of the Organization of American States’ General Assembly tomorrow.

“We have a lot of work to do to help the Hondurans get back on the democratic path,” Clinton said. She said the U.S. wants to help address the “political polarization” in the Central American nation.

Zelaya’s opponents accused him of ignoring court rulings and seeking to retain power by changing the constitution through a referendum on term limits. The military arrested Zelaya yesterday and put him on a plane to Costa Rica.

Gunshots were heard outside the presidential palace in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, late today as security forces clashed with dozens of protesters demonstrating against the coup. It wasn’t immediately clear who fired the shots or whether anyone was injured. Honduran soldiers fired tear gas during the protest.

Clinton didn’t demand Zelaya’s return as president as part of a restoration of democratic rule in Honduras, when asked about him at a press conference in Washington. She said the U.S. instead was “working with others on behalf of our ultimate objectives” of sustaining democracy in the country.

Mexico’s Support

Mexican President Felipe Calderon, in Managua, Nicaragua, for a summit at which the Honduran crisis will be discussed, said he supports Zelaya. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is also attending.

Clinton said the U.S. was refraining from making a legal judgment on whether a coup had taken place in Honduras, a determination that would trigger a U.S. aid freeze.

“We’re looking at that question now,” Clinton said when asked about the aid implications of events in Honduras. “Much of our assistance is conditioned on the integrity of the democratic system.”

Obama said an unchallenged coup would set “a terrible precedent” at a time when democracy is helping the region move past an era of military rule in some countries.

One of the most prominent American roles in Honduras is a U.S. military task force that operates from a Honduran air base to carry out missions in the region, including drug interdiction. About 600 troops are assigned to the base under Joint Task Force-Bravo of U.S. Southern Command.

Navy Commander Jeffrey Gordon, a U.S. Defense Department spokesman, said “It is quiet and the situation is calm where our forces are located,” in an e-mailed response to questions.

To contact the reporter on this story: Julianna Goldman in Washington at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net; Janine Zacharia in Washington at jzacharia@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 29, 2009 18:51 EDT