Minister slammed for anti-Semitic comments

The Israeli Embassy in Cameroon has said it was outraged at comments made by Cameroon's Deputy Justice Minister Jean de Dieu Momo in which he appeared to justify the Holocaust. Asked on state television why he thought opposition leader Maurice Kamto had refused to accept defeat following the 7 October presidential election, Momo used various anti-Semitic stereotypes. ‘In Germany, there was a race of very rich people. They had enormous economic power. And they were so arrogant that the German people felt a little nervous. Then one day, a certain Hitler came to power and put these populations in gas chambers.’ BBC News reports that the Israeli Embassy in Cameroon said Momo’s comments would have an impact on the two countries' relationship. ‘These anti-Semitic comments, coming barely one week after Cameroon and the world participated in the commemoration of the International Day for the Remembrance of the Holocaust constitutes a big disappointment for bilateral relations between Cameroon and Israel,’ it said in a statement.