U.S. recalls its ambassador to Zambia after gay rights row: sources

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

WORLD NEWS DECEMBER 23, 2019 / 12:17 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

U.S. recalls its ambassador to Zambia after gay rights row: sources

LUSAKA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has withdrawn its ambassador to Zambia following a row with authorities in the southern African nation after he criticized the jailing of a gay couple, embassy sources said on Monday.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said Washington is “dismayed” by the Zambian government’s statement that

Ambassador Daniel Foote’s position “is no longer tenable.”

“Despite this action, the United States remains committed to our partnership with the Zambian people,” the spokesperson said. “We seek an open and frank relationship of mutual respect, commensurate with the generous aid provided to the Zambian people by the United States.”

Zambia’s high court last month jailed the male gay couple for 15 years for engaging in sexual relations “against the order of nature”, a decision the U.S. ambassador said was horrifying.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zambia-lgbt/u-s-recalls-its-ambassador-to-zambia-after-gay-rights-row-sources-idUSKBN1YR1S2

[Marcuse]

1. "That US Ambassador is bad news and I will recall him. I want you to do me a favor, though."

[RobertDevereaux]

2. More from the article...

In his statement Mr Foote acknowledged that he had no right to interfere in Zambian policy-making but wrote: "I thought, perhaps incorrectly, that Christianity meant trying to live like our Lord, Jesus Christ.

"I am not qualified to sermonise, but I cannot imagine Jesus would have used bestiality comparisons or referred to his fellow human beings as 'dogs', or 'worse than animals'; allusions made repeatedly by your countrymen and women about homosexuals.

"Targeting and marginalising minorities, especially homosexuals, has been a warning signal of future atrocities by governments in many countries. In my heart, I know that real Zambian values don't merit your country's inclusion on that list, ever."