TEGUCIGALPA, June 22 (Reuters) - Gunmen shot and killed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya's chief bodyguard outside his house on Friday, the government said, a brazen attack in one of Latin America's most violent countries.

Captain Alejandro Motino, head of Zelaya's three-man security detail, was dressed in his army uniform when two men shot him outside his home in a lower middle-class neighborhood in the capital Tegucigalpa, the security ministry said.

Zelaya said the killing was part of a campaign to discredit his government, which is battling a violent crime wave blamed on mafia groups and "mara" street gangs.

"This crime was carried out by paid killers with intentions to specifically endanger the security system," Zelaya told local television.

"This is part of a hate campaign against security official and it brings with it perverse intentions to destabilize the system of government," the president's office said in a statement.

Zelaya, who took office last year promising to end violence, has been heavily criticized by the opposition for failing to take action.

On Thursday, the government declared a state of emergency in the prison system, where gang violence has claimed the lives of 20 inmates so far this year.

AlertNet news is provided by