Idi Amin

Idi Amin Dada Oumee (c. 1925 Koboko, Uganda, – August 16 2003, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) was an army officer and President of Uganda (1971 to 1979) whose regime was notorious for its brutality.

Seizure of power

After hearing that Obote was planning to arrest him for misappropriating army funds, he seized power in a coup on January 25, 1971, when Obote was attending a Commonwealth summit meeting in Singapore. He was assisted by Rwandan exiles, whom Obote had targeted as enemies. Obote stayed in exile, and Amin declared himself the new President.

Related Topics:
Coup - January 25 - 1971 - Commonwealth - Singapore - Rwanda

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Idi Amin was initially welcomed both within Uganda and by the international community.

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He gave former king and president Mutesa, who had died in exile, a state burial in April 1971, freed many political prisoners, and disbanded the Secret Police, the General Service Unit. He promised to hold elections within months. Shortly after taking power, however, Amin established "death squads" to hunt down and murder Obote's supporters as well as much of the intelligentsia, whom he distrusted. Military leaders who had not supported the coup were executed, many by beheading.

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Obote took refuge in Tanzania, from whence he attempted to regain the country through a military invasion from Tanzania in September 1972, without success. Obote supporters within the Ugandan army, mainly from the Acholi and Lango tribes, were also involved in the invasion. Amin retaliated by bombing Tanzanian towns, and purging the army of Acholi and Lango officers. The ethnic violence grew to include the whole of the army, and then Ugandan civilians, Amin becoming more and more paranoid. The Nile Mansions Hotel in Kampala became infamous as Amin's interrogation and torture centre.

Related Topics:
Tanzania - 1972 - Acholi - Lango - Kampala

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On August 4, 1972, Amin gave Uganda's 70,000 Asians (mainly of Indian origin) who held British passports 90 days to leave the country, following an alleged dream in which, he claimed, God told him to expel them. Those who remained were deported from the cities to the countryside. The same year he severed diplomatic relations with Israel, and in 1976 with Britain. In 1972, Amin turned to Colonel Muammar Al Qadhafi of Libya and the Soviet Union for support.

Related Topics:
August 4 - 1972 - Asia - Israel - 1976 - Britain - Colonel Muammar Al Qadhafi - Libya - Soviet Union

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Amin had strong links to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). The Israeli embassy was offered to them as headquarters; and Flight 139, the Air France A-300B Airbus hijacked from Athens on June 27 1976, was invited by Amin to stop at Entebbe International Airport in the city of Entebbe, 32 km from Kampala. The hijackers demanded the release of 53 PLO and Red Army Faction prisoners in return for the 256 hostages, and were assisted by Amin's troops. Amin visited the hostages more than once. At midnight on July 3, 1976, Israeli paratroopers attacked the airport and freed all but two of the hostages. (One was killed by the Israeli forces, while another, 75-year-old Dora Bloch, who had been taken to a hospital before the rescue, was murdered by two army officers on Amin's orders after the hostage rescue.) Uganda's air force was badly crippled as its fighter jets were destroyed in the action (see also Operation Entebbe).

Related Topics:
Palestine Liberation Organisation - Air France - A-300B Airbus - Athens - June 27 - 1976 - Entebbe International Airport - Entebbe - Kampala - Red Army Faction - Hostage - July 3 - Fighter jet - Operation Entebbe

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The success of the operation largely contributed to his downfall, while increased resistance and sabotage operations crippled the nation during his final years. Partly on the basis of his "visions" and this behaviour, Idi Amin is often believed to have suffered from neurosyphilis: Deborah Hayden makes the case for this hypothesis in her Pox: Genius, Madness and the Mysteries of Syphilis.

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As the years went on, Amin became increasingly erratic and outspoken. He had his tunics specially lengthened so that he could wear many World War II medals, including the Military Cross and Victoria Cross. He also granted himself a number of official titles, including King of Scotland. Amin was fond of racing cars (of which he owned several), boxing, and Disney cartoons. Many foreign journalists considered him a somewhat comical and eccentric figure; he was widely caricatured in the west as a murderous buffoon. There were also rumours that he was a cannibal, though this has never been proved.

Related Topics:
Military Cross - Victoria Cross - King of Scotland - Boxing - Disney - Cartoon - Eccentric - Caricature - The west - Cannibal

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