The U.S. delegation to Ugandan
President Yoweri Museveni's inauguration walked out of Thursday's ceremony in
protest against his disparaging comments about an international war crimes
tribunal and the presence of Sudan's leader, whom the court has indicted, the
State Department said.
Department spokeswoman
Elizabeth Trudeau said U.S. Ambassador to Uganda Deborah Malac and a visiting
Washington-based official, along with several European and Canadian diplomats,
abruptly left the inauguration after Museveni made negative remarks about the
International Criminal Court in his inaugural address. She added that the U.S.
also objected to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's participation in the
inauguration. Al-Bashir has been charged by the court for atrocities in Sudan's
western Darfur region.