Troop build-up on border—Amin

Press, 8 July 1976, Page 8

Troop build-up on border—Amin

NZPA-Reuter Nairobi President Idi Amin of Uganda has accused Kenya of reinforcing its troops along their common border, but said Kenyans need not worry about an attack from Uganda as a result of “recent developments.” The assurance came in a message to President Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya from the Ugandan leader “on the recent tragic invasion of Uganda by the forces of Zionist Israel.”

Uganda Radio, monitored in Nairobi, quoted the message as saying: “From all information available to me, the operation was carried out with Your Excellency’s full knowledge and the knowledge of your Government.” President Amin expressed “great surprise” that the Kenyan authorities should give facilities to Israel to carry out an operation against Uganda. Kenya allowed the Israeli planes involved in the rescue on Sunday of more than 100 hijack hostages from Entebbe to land at Nairobi on their way back to Israel. But both Kenya and Israel have denied that they collaborated in the raid. The Ugandan leader said he had been “not a little surprised” to learn that Kenya had heavily reinforced its troops along the border with Uganda. He said at one point of the border, Lurnino, in the south,'

Kenyan troops had even crossed up to three miles into Uganda. “However, in spite of recent developments which have built up tension, we, the people of Uganda, still regard the people of Kenya as our brothers and sisters. “You should not worry about any attack from our side of the border,” he said —and repeated that sentiment after saying he was sending a copy of the message to President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, the third partner in the East African community. In Paris, the French police said yesterday that they had positively identified four of the seven dead guerrillas. The leader was Wilfried' Boese, of the West German Baader-Meinhof terrorist group — and connected with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The others were named as:

El Aria Jail Naji, or EJ Arga Gail, head of the P.F.L.P.’s Latin-American section; Jaber Jadj Faiz Abderrahim, a Palestinian in charge of P.F.L.P. commando operations; and Abdel Latif Abdel Razaq, an Iranian citizen. Israel yesterday was preparing to weather diplomatic criticism of the Entebbe raid. The Israelis have little hope that the United Nations will approve their action, but a high official said Israeli leaders were pleased with world reaction to their assault. In Jerusalem, President Ephraim Katzir and the) Prime Minister (Mr Yitzhak] Rabin) led mourners at the funeral of Lieutenant-Colonel] Yonatan Natanyahu, who was killed as he helped to lead the Israeli raid.

The United Nations Secretary-General (Dr Kurt Waldheim) has received a letter from the Israeli Foreign Minister (Mr Yigal Alton) thanking him for his efforts aimed at securing the release of the hostages.

The letter also informed Dr Waldheim of the commando operation.

In New York, the Organisation of African Unity has formally requested a meeting of the Security Council to consider the Israelis’ “wanton, act of aggression.”

In Hamburg, the West German Chancellor (Mr Schmidt) and President Giscard d’Estaing of France have been discussing European Economic Community proposals for a draft anti-terrorist convention to be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly.