US diplomats walk out of Uganda president’s inauguration

WASHINGTON – The State Department says the U.S. delegation attending Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s inauguration walked out of the ceremony in protest. At issue were his disparaging comments about an international war crimes tribunal and the presence of Sudan’s leader whom the court has indicted.

Department spokesman Elizabeth Trudeau says the U.S. ambassador to Uganda and a Washington-based official, along with several European diplomats, abruptly left Thursday’s ceremony when Museveni made remarks about the International Criminal Court. She added that the U.S. also objected to the participation in the inauguration of Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who has been charged by the court for atrocities in Sudan’s western Darfur region.

In his inaugural address, Museveni called the court “a bunch of useless people” and said he no longer supports it.

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This story has been corrected to change the day of the week to Thursday.