Amin Forced Back to Zaire After Saudis Block His Return

KINSHASA, Zaire —  Former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, expelled by Zaire when he tried to enter the country under an assumed name, was forced to return here Friday after Saudi Arabia declared him persona non grata .

Amin, who is wanted by the Ugandan government for the murder and torture of 250,000 people during his eight-year rule, was forced to return to Kinshasa aboard a Zairian plane.

The 61-year-old deposed ruler was arrested at Kinshasa airport Jan. 3 when he tried to slip back into neighboring Uganda with one of his sons under a false name.

He was deported from Zaire on Thursday and flown to Dakar, Senegal, to catch a flight to Jidda, the Saudi capital. But he never boarded the plane and was kept away from reporters at the airport.

A report by Dakar Radio quoted diplomatic sources in both Zaire and Senegal as saying that Saudi Arabia appeared to have declared him persona non grata . Amin has lived in Jidda since being toppled by Ugandan exiles and Tanzanian troops in 1979.