Uganda's President Opposes Tough New Anti-Gay Bill

KAMPALA, Uganda -- Uganda's president says he opposes an anti-homosexuality bill recently passed by lawmakers and that "abnormal" people should not be jailed or killed.

In a recent letter to the speaker of parliament, President Yoweri Museveni said homosexuals need what he calls economic rehabilitation. He says parliament's bill needs to be revised.

Details of the letter, written late last month after Uganda's parliament passed an anti-gay law widely condemned by rights activists, were published Friday in Kampala's Daily Monitor newspaper. Sarah Kagingo, a spokeswoman for the presidency, confirmed that Museveni wrote the letter.

Frank Mugisha, a prominent Ugandan gay rights activist, said Museveni's characterization of gays "creates more hatred" in a country where discrimination against homosexuals is already rampant. He said there is "no celebration" over the president's opposition to the bill.