Canadian PM Warns Uganda on Antigay Law

Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada (pictured) privately warned president Yoweri Museveni of Uganda over the weekend about a proposed law that would include the death penalty for gay people in the African nation.

Harper pulled Museveni aside to express his opposition during the biennial Commonwealth summit held in Port of Spain in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, according to the Toronto Star.

"'It was not discussed multilaterally; however I did raise it directly with the president of Uganda and indicated Canada's deep concern, strong opposition and the fact we deplore these kinds of measures,'" Harper said during a news conference on Sunday, the Star reported.

"'We find them inconsistent with frankly, I think, any reasonable understanding of human rights, and I was very clear on that with the president of Uganda,'" said Harper.

The proposed law in the Uganda parliament would impose the death penalty on people who engage in gay sex repeatedly or even once if either party is underage or infected with HIV, and it would jail citizens who do not inform the police within 24 hours of learning about the existence of a gay person.

British prime minister Gordon Brown also expressed his concern about the law to Museveni, according to the Star.