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A popular Jamaican singer has raised the ire of activists for his condemnation of homosexuality.

Amnesty International said that during a concert in Jamaica earlier this year, Sizzla stoked the crowd by calling for violence against gays. "Kill them . . . gun shots upon them . . . gay men have to die," the singer said.

Fo Niemi of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations wanted Sizzla's show slated for last night in Montreal to be cancelled because of the artist's talk about murder.

Gay activists wanted the reggae artist turned away at the border. But that didn't happen because Sizzla hasn't been convicted in Canada or Jamaica.

Cezar Brumeanu, the concert's promoter, said Sizzla signed an agreement with Canada's high commission in Jamaica promising not to incite hatred on Canadian soil.

But in a Montreal weekly, Sizzla said: "Burn the sodomite. . . .We won't tolerate homosexuals."

Niemi called the comments hate propaganda and wants the artist charged under Canadian law. CP

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