Ugandans await news of Amin

Press, 28 March 1979, Page 9

Ugandans await news of Amin

NZPA-Reuter Nairobi There are confused reports on the whereabouts of the Ugandan President (FieldMarshal Idi Amin) after the official Uganda Radio said he was under fire from an invading Tanzanian tank force that cut off Entebbe Airport from the capital, Kampala. Tanzanian intelligence sources denied that their tanks had advanced as far as Kampala and Ugandans were still waiting early yesterday for news of their President.

Ugandan exile sources said the tanks near the official Presidential residence at Entebbe could be under the command of Brigadier Emilio Mondo, the Ugandan Minister of State for Defence, who is reported to have attempted to oust President Amin at the week-end. A Presidential aide said earlier by phone from Kampala that Field-Marshal Amin could see 12 Tanzanian tanks blocking the route to the capital from his Entebbe residence. But other exile sources said the President had already fled Entebbe for Arua in the remote West Nile region that is his home to prepare for a final stand against the invading troops. Diplomatic sources said food, fuel, and supplies had been transported to Arua over the last week in preparation for such a contingency. Exile sources said the front-line of their rebel invasion forces was now at Mpigi, a village some 40km from Kampala, and that Entebbe was being ’ shelled from this position. Diplomatic sources said that Brigadier Mondo, a rising officer in the Ugandan Army, had made contact with exile groups, in an attempt to end the fighting. The exile groups set up a united front at a meeting in northern Tanzania at the week-end and are expected to establish a provisional administration in the southern parts of Uganda controlled by the rebel forces. It is not clear how successful Brigadier Mondo was in his attempt to mobilise the Uganda Army against its commander-in-chief. Uganda is now under a dusk-to-dawn curfew, Entebbe Airport has been closed to all civil flights, and there is a ban on the private use of electric lighting at home.