The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

IDI AMIN

Idi Amin Dada was a Ugandan soldier and dictator. He was born in 1925 at Koboko and died in 2003. A sergeant in the British colonial army in Uganda before staging a military coup in 1971 and taking control of the country from the then left-wing leader, Obote. Western governments welcomed Amin's coup as it removed a potential communist from the country. However, Amin's first action was to execute all the military thought to be loyal to Obote. In order to maintain power - which he did through the public execution of any opposition - Amin required military support. This he at first obtained from Israel, but Israel withdrew after becoming aware of Amin's atrocities. Amin then courted the Arab world, and became an active supporter of the Palestinian terrorists, sending a telegram of support for them following the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Olympics and inviting an Israeli passenger jet, hijacked by Palestinian terrorists to land at Entebbe airport. His brutal rule which resulted in the deaths of thousands of people ended after his failed invasion of neighbouring
Tanzania resulted in Tanzania invading Uganda and capturing Kampala, the Ugandan capital in 1979. Idi Amin escaped to exile in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca where he died.
Research Idi Amin