Uganda dismisses Obama pressure on anti-gay law

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni attends the opening ceremony of the 22nd Ordinary Session of the African Union summit in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, January 30, 2014. Photo: Reuters

Kampala, Uganda: Uganda on Tuesday dismissed U.S. president Barack Obama's call to its leader Yoweri Museveni not to sign an anti-homosexuality law, saying the U.S. was trying to blackmail the east African country.

On Sunday, two days after President Museveni said he would sign the law widely criticized abroad as harsh and unjust, Obama warned that would complicate United States relations with Uganda and be a "step backward for all Ugandans."