Bamuturaki Musinguzi
29 June 2009
(Page 2 of 2)
They also told him the Ugandan soldiers must start digging trenches for their protection if the plane and the hostages were blown up.
The President handed over the released hostages at the old Entebbe airport building to the Somali envoy to Uganda, Mr Farah, who in turn handed them over to the French envoy to Uganda, Mr Renard, at the new Entebbe airport. Those released included four children and elderly women.
Addressing all the hostages earlier, President Amin said he was doing everything possible to secure their freedom. He said if their respective governments heeded the demands of the PFLP, all of them would be freed.
He told them that on release, they should tell their respective governments to solve the Palestinian problem.
In its editorial of July 1, Voice of Uganda praised the role played by President Amin. And on July 2, the paper reported that after intensive negotiations between President Amin and the hijackers, 100 hostages had been freed, except Israelis and those with double nationalities, the crew and the plane.
The PFLP also accepted the President's request to extend the deadline from 12 noon GMT July 1 to 11am GMT on July 2. President Amin thanked the PFLP "very much" for the extension as it would give him more time to discuss with all parties concerned -- the Somali ambassador and the French government.
On June 30, President Amin had a telephone conversation with Col. Bar Lev, an Israeli soldier, on the conditions the hijackers had given for safety of hostages, Voice of Uganda reported on July 1.
Col Bar Lev telephoned President Amin from his house in Israel. President Amin told him that he agreed to speak to him because he was his best friend.
He told him that the PFLP had warned that if Israel did not comply with their demands, they would blow up the aeroplane and all hostages by noon, July 1.
President Amin advised Col Bar Lev to tell the prime minister, and Gen Dayan to do everything possible to release the Palestinian fighters as demanded.
The President told Col Bar Lev that he was capable of bringing peace to Palestine and the Middle East, adding that he could do it better than Henry Kissinger or any other imperialist agent because he was always frank.
This was why he made the conversation public, he said. Indeed, he gave copies of the conversation to the Somali envoy in Uganda, who was representing PFLP in the negotiations.
President d'Estaing of France once again appealed to President Amin to try and secure the release of all hostages.
"The gravity of the situation and its extreme urgency lead me to once more appeal to your high authority so that a term be put to a situation that nobody can accept," President d'Estaing wrote in a message quoted by Voice of Uganda on July 2.
In the same story, it was reported that Israel had told France on July 1 that it was ready to negotiate to free "a certain number of prisoners" in exchange for release of all the hostages.
Israeli Ambassador Mordechai Gazit told French Foreign Minister Jean Sauvagnargues of this decision. The French ambassador in Kampala, Pierre-Henri Renard, was told to tell President Amin of Israel's decision, French officials said.
On Friday, July 2, President Amin left for Port Louis, Mauritius, for the 13th Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU.
He hurriedly returned home on Saturday (July 3) to attend to the grave situation concerning the hostages. He returned after handing over the OAU Chairmanship to Mauritius Prime Minister Seewoosagur Ramgoolam.
The negotiations did not happen -- Israel invaded Entebbe Airport on the night of July 3-4. Twenty members of the Uganda Armed Forces died and 13 were seriously injured, the Ugandan government reported. Five Palestinians and two German hijackers, including a woman, also died during the fighting that lasted 53 minutes.
But the international press indicated that 45 Ugandan soldiers died. Out of the 105 hostages, three died and 10 were wounded.
Members of the Uganda Armed Forces who died are: marines regiment, Capt. Yahaya, Staff Sergeant Gogo, Corporal Titiya, Lance Corporal Ayub Khan, Privates Jusua Alepele, Ganji, Moro, Mwaka, Adupa, Mania, Badru and Kabagambe.
Malire mechanised specialist reconnaissance regiment, Capt Ariga, Staff Sergeant Okello, Lance Corporal Musoke, Lance Corporal George, Privates Paulino, Mikaele, Andruga and Aliga.
The Palestinian hijackers who died were Haji Fayez Jabber, Abdel Razzak Al Sammarraie, Jayel Al-Arjah Aboh Khaled Al Khalayli and Aboh Ali. The Germans were Mahmoud and Halime, both from the German Revolutionary Cell.
The Government declared July 6 and 7 public holidays to mourn the officers and soldiers of the Uganda Armed Forces.
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