‘I Am Very Powerful,’ Ex-Dictator Tells Military Mutineers : Follow My Advice, Amin Says From Saudi Exile

MANAMA, Bahrain —  Idi Amin, who ruled Uganda in draconian fashion from 1971 until 1979, said Saturday that he will help the leaders of the coup in his East African homeland if they allow exiles to return.

Asked if he himself might return, Amin replied, “Everybody wants to go home.”

In two telephone interviews from his exile home in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, Amin urged the new leaders to free all political detainees and welcome back Ugandans who had left the country.

Must Take His Advice

The flamboyant Amin--known, among other things, for his string of self-accorded titles and boasts of omnipotence, even in exile--said that if the army coup leaders take his advice, “I will support them and I can work and contact many countries to give them support. If they refuse my advice we would work to topple them,” he added, speaking in English.

Milton Obote, who was overthrown in Saturday’s coup in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, is said to believe that the rebels who ousted him had worked with Amin.

“I cannot confirm or deny this, but I am very powerful in Uganda,” Amin said.

Without elaborating, he said he “knew about the coup (preparations) several months ago.” This suggested to some observers that tribes loyal to him in Nile province had aided the rebels against Obote.

He asserted that organizers of the coup briefed him on their plans Friday afternoon.

Since his arrival in Jidda, Amin went on, he has remained in close contact with his followers in Uganda, who he said were trying to reinstate him as president.

Amin overthrew Obote in 1971 and established one of the bloodiest regimes in Uganda’s history, killing hundreds of thousands of opponents and declaring himself president for life.

He was deposed in 1979 by Tanzanian troops and an irregular Ugandan force backed by Tanzania. The former strongman remains generally discredited in Uganda because of the social and economic chaos during his rule.

Amin said Saturday that he is not interested in gaining power for himself, although he mentioned that the new government should allow his former army officers to go back to Uganda with other exiles.

He said the situation in Uganda “could be very serious and lead to civil war” if the new leaders in Kampala do not heed his advice.

They “can be assassinated immediately because Obote is very cunning,” he declared. “If this advice is taken, then there would be no problem in Uganda, and the new leadership would survive.”

Amin described one of the generals who led the coup, Brig. Basilio Olara Okello, as a “very good officer who had been trained by me.” But Okello “shifted to supporting Obote later on,” he added.

Amin appealed “to all Ugandans to unite and avoid any spilling of blood, including that of the tribe of Obote.”

Army Infighting

The coup was reported to have followed army infighting between the tribes of Obote and Okello. Obote’s tribe, the Langi, and Okello’s tribe, the Acholi, are both from the north.

“We must not kill. . . . The tribe of Obote was only obeying orders,” said Amin, who is from the small Kakwa tribe. “Ugandans must not kill Ugandans. I also appeal to all Ugandans not to harm any foreigners.”