Ugandans told Amin in London, but no sign yet

Press, 10 June 1977, Page 5

Ugandans told Amin in London, but no sign yet

NZPA-Reuter Nairobi The odyssey of President! Idi Amip took a fresh turn! yesterday with an announce-! ment by Kampala Radio that | the Ugandan leader Was re-; ported to have arrived in* London for the Com-' monwealth conference. Th* broadcast, monitored! in Nairobi gave no details! about his arrival or his trav- j els. Nor did it give a sources for its report. In London. British officials,* insisted that he was not! there, and the Prime Minis-: ter (Mr James Callaghan),! the conference host, said hej believed that the Field-Mar-! shal was still in Kampala. Also unclear now is the! future of some 240 British nationals still resident in I Uganda. Kampala Radio said earl-! ier that they had been; ordered not to leave the; country. The broadcast said that! the plight of the Britons —I

missionaries, businessmen, and farmers — would be decided when Field-Marshal |Atnin returned. British and Com- • monwealth officials have 'been on tenterhooks for -much of the week while : Uganda Radin reported that i the allegedly peripatetic 'President — flying in a Speicial aircraft lent by a I friendly country and making a stop-over in a friendly Arab country — would ar- ; rive in Britain by boat from isomewheie in Europe. President Amin’s vanish- ,; ing act began on Tuesday :iwhen he was said to have ■left Uganda for London ; Since then his whereabouts • have been a mystery. Britain, which broke off i relations with Uganda last (year. has made it clear that :he would be unwelcome al i j the conference because ol persistent reports of mass'acres and other atrocities [(since he seized power six ■lyears ago.

! There is some concern (that the Ugandan authorities (may use the resident Britons |as hostages. The British (Government has said it i could not protect those who chose to stay in the country. I The Uganda Radio an(nouncement said that with immediate effect, security forces had been ordered to (ensure that no Britons left (Uganda. It also warned outIsiders against attempts to (fetch them out — apparently •an allusion to the Israeli j commando raid on Entebbe (Airport last July to rescue .(more than 100 airline hijack (hostages. .1 Informed sources in Nairpbi said that most of the (British nationals lived outjside the main centres. I However, the sources added that the Britons were (unlikely to be greatly per(turbed by the latest order, * noting that similar restrictions had been imposed in (the past. -