Idi Amin exiled to Mecca

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Idi Amin exiled to Mecca

1998

 

Idi Amin has been banished to the spartan and isolated holy city of

Mecca after contradictory reports that he organised arms shipments to

northern Uganda, writes GILES FODEN

 

 

IDI AMIN, Uganda's former dictator, has been banished from Jeddah,

Saudi Arabia, after allegedly organising a shipment of arms to

northern Uganda, a newspaper reported.

 

The Saudis, who gave him refuge after he was toppled by a Tanzanian

invasion in 1979, are thought to have limited his movements to the

isolated holy city of Mecca.

 

A Jeddah-based source told the Ugandan Monitor newspaper

that Mr Amin had approached an Italian shipping company, Messina and

Co.

 

"He told the shippers that he wanted them to send an urgent

consignment to his friends in northern Uganda," the source is quoted

as saying. But the company is thought to have become suspicious and

backed out of the deal.

 

It is unclear how Mr Amin, who has been living on a monthly stipend

of 5 000 riyals (about US$1 400) from the Saudi government, would

have been able to buy arms.

 

Mr Amin found refuge in Saudi Arabia as a consequence of his

friendship with the now deceased King Faisal, one of a number of Arab

leaders -- including Libya's Colonel Gadafy -- who gave him financial

and military support.

 

But Mr Amin's presence is thought to be an embarrassment to King

Fahd, who is bound to honour his predecessor's offer of hospitality.

 

In cosmopolitan Jeddah, Mr Amin led a comfortable life, complete with

a swimming pool and a Chevrolet Caprice car. His exile to Mecca -- a

spartan and devout city -- can only be seen as a punishment.