Word: amins
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Uganda celebrated the tenth anniversary of its independence from Britain last week. It was hardly an occasion for rejoicing. Under its unpredictable military ruler, General Idi ("Big Daddy") Amin Dada, the country has drifted closer and closer to chaos. It was an especially bitter holiday for Uganda's 10,000 Asian citizens, who have watched helplessly while Amin ordered the expulsion of tens of thousands of other Asians with British or Indian passports. Last week, after Amin "suggested" that they take part in the anniversary parade, the Asians responded with a pathetic gesture of "loyalty" to the regime that...
...salute set the pied crows to wheeling and wailing in the sky above Kololo Stadium in Kampala, Uganda's beautiful capital. As 2,000 soldiers led the British-style trooping of the colors, and the crowd sweated in the searing equatorial sun, General Amin flamboyantly conferred an array of honors on his distinguished visitors. The First Class Order of the Source of the Nile went to Somalia's General Mohamed Barre, while the Second Class Order of the same medal was bestowed upon the Sudanese Vice President, Major General Mohamed El-Bagir. Then Big Daddy decorated members...
...same time, the flight of Uganda's Asians continued. Suspecting that some were not abiding by the deadline he had given them of 48 hours between the time they got their exit papers and the moment they left the country, Amin ordered a house-to-house search for Asians. By last week some 14,000 had left for England, India and Canada (the U.S. also announced that it would admit 1,000 refugees). But according to the private calculations of Uganda's police, an average of five Asians a day were being shot by soldiers, mostly at roadblocks...
Last week Uganda's neighbors, who have been alarmed by Amin's policies, stepped up efforts to keep peace in the area. Zaïre's President Mobutu Sese Seko visited Kampala, and was presented by Amin with the Order of the Source of the Nile, Uganda's highest medal. The two leaders even agreed to rename Lake Albert and Lake Edward, which lie on the border of Zaïre and Uganda and will henceforth be known, respectively, as Mobutu Sese Seko Lake and Idi Amin Dada Lake. More important, Mobutu seemingly won Amin...
...sooner had Mobutu left the country than Amin reneged. He would not be able to attend the conference, he said, because he was "busy commanding the armed forces." As for extending the deadline, he denied that he had ever promised to do so. "I continue to believe, until proved wrong," said Mobutu generously in Kinshasa, "that in Kampala I had talks with a real, conscientious and honest statesman. I would be very disappointed if the facts should prove the contrary." Late last week, however, Amin sent U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim a message saying that the Asians would be allowed...