Ali Abdussalam Treki said homosexuality was not acceptable
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By Jessica Geen • September 24, 2009 - 18:47
The newly-installed president of the United Nations General Assembly, Ali Abdussalam Treki, has said that homosexuality is "not really acceptable".
Treki, who is the Libyan secretary of African Union Affairs, opened the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly Friday with a press conference.
One question concerned the UN resolution which calls for the universal decriminalisation of homosexuality.
In reply, Treki said: "That matter is very sensitive, very touchy. As a Muslim, I am not in favour of it . . . it is not accepted by the majority of countries. My opinion is not in favour of this matter at all. I think it's not really acceptable by our religion, our tradition.
“It is not acceptable in the majority of the world. And there are some countries that allow that, thinking it is a kind of democracy . . . I think it is not,” he added.
The ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs committee, Florida's Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, told On Top Magazine: "The anti-gay bigotry spewed by this Qaddafi shill demonstrates once again that the UN has been hijacked by advocates of hate and intolerance."