Fear of violence has spread through the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa ahead of Sunday's post-coup election, which has divided the Central American country.

A military crackdown on dissenters after the June 28 ouster of president Manuel Zelaya and scores of small explosive attacks on media outlets and political targets have frayed nerves in a city already mired in gang violence.

De facto leader Roberto Micheletti, who stepped down briefly over the electoral period, on Saturday accused Zelaya supporters of secretly setting up bomb attacks to disturb the polls and blamed them for putting "psychological pressure" on voters to convince them to boycott the vote.

Zelaya's backers have called for people to stay at home to avoid being blamed for possible clashes.

Around 30,000 soldiers and police have been deployed nationwide to distribute electoral material and oversee the polls.

Javier Zuniga, the head of Amnesty International's Honduras delegation, decried what he called "an environment of fear and intimidation."

Rights groups expressed concern after several deaths and dozens of arrests in the aftermath of the coup, and have reported new threats and intimidation of pro-Zelaya activists.

SG/SS/HGL