attached mail follows:
Idi Amin's 'condition worsens'
His wife would want Amin buried in Uganda
Former Ugandan leader Idi Amin - whose 1971 to 1979 regime was one of the
bloodiest in African history - reportedly remains in a coma after three days on a
life support machine.
A hospital official told the Associated Press news agency that his condition
had deteriorated on Monday after stabilising on Sunday. "He is still alive.
But he remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit" at King Faisal
Specialist Hospital in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, one of Saudi Arabia's
top medical centres, another medical source at the hospital was quoted as
saying by local newspaper Arab News. Meanwhile, the political party he ousted in
1971 has joined calls for him to be allowed to return to die in his homeland.
If he has any (legal) case to answer, it will be dealt with according to the
law
Onapito Ekomoloit
Presidential press assistant
The Ugandan People's Congress says that the government has a responsibility
to look after Mr Amin, as a Ugandan citizen and former head of state. According
to local newspaper reports, President Yoweri Museveni has rejected a request
from one of his wives to let him go back to Uganda.
Deep wounds
However, the president's press assistant, Onapito Ekomoloit was quoted as
saying that he was free to return if he so wished but did not rule out the
possibility of him being arrested, if he was still alive. "Everyone knows he has a
past. If he has any [legal] case to answer, it will be dealt with according to
the law," he said. One of Mr Amin's several wives said he had suffered from
hypertension for some time and fell into the coma on Friday. "We have contacted
the (Kampala) government, to ask that if he dies his body can be brought back
home for a decent burial," she said.
Mr Amin, 78, has lived in Saudi Arabia with his entourage for more than 10
years, after almost a decade in Libya. He has not been back to Uganda since he
was ousted by Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles in 1979. The BBC's Will Ross,
reports from Kampala, that deep wounds remain even 24 years after he fled the
country. He says those who are old enough will never forget the nature of Idi
Amin's eight-year dictatorial rule when Ugandans were gripped by a climate of
fear. Up to 400,000 people are estimated to have died during his time in
office or are still unaccounted for.
Under Mr Amin, Asians in Uganda who dominated business in the country were
given 90 days to leave the country, as he embarked on a programme to Africanise
the economy. Many fled to the United Kingdom. He confiscated all their
properties, which he distributed to his cronies, who later ran them down. A whole
generation of Ugandan intellectuals were either killed for questioning the regime
or fled into exile.
Quiet life
Uganda's Sunday Vision newspaper scored a scoop in 1999 when it secured the
first interview with the so-called "Butcher of Africa" in almost 20 years. "I
am leading a quiet life and committed to my religion, Islam, and Allah. I don't
have problems with anyone," Mr Amin told the newspaper's reporter in his
luxury home in Jeddah. "But I am satisfied with what I am getting and even paying
school fees for a number of my orphaned relatives in Uganda, and helping needy
people," he said.
The people don't have any problem with my father
Haji Ali Amin, son
He is said to have fathered 43 children in all. His son Haji Ali Amin ran
unsuccessfully last year for election as mayor in the small town of Njeru, east
of the Ugandan capital, Kampala. "The people don't have any problem with my
father," he said, blaming the media for giving him a bad press. Mr Amin was
deposed in 1979 after a series of skirmishes between Uganda and his old enemy,
Tanzania which supported an invasion by army exiles, including Mr Museveni. As his
capital fell, he slipped through the net, finally turning up in Libya, his
years in power over.
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