750699c

750699c

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On Her Britannic Majesty's Service

R 222

MR TEO OWENS
ROOM 222
OSIRIS BOAT
HILTON HOTEL
CAIRO

To. Ted Owens

With the compliments of
HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S
EMBASSY

Thank you very much for
a most fascinating discussion -
and for the soup!

CAIRO

You can be sure that the
information you gave me is
being carefully considered.

DLP Rose
20.6.75.

31556

ISIS & OSIRIS
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Telephone Message

For MR TED OWENS السيد
Date 19.6.75 التاريخ Time 2.10 pm الساعة

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From BRITISH EMBASSY من
Phone No 31556 (IF NO ANSWER PLEASE PHONE 70950) تلفون رقم
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EGYPTIAN GAZETTE 6/21/75
AMIN STAYS
EXECUTION
OF BRITON
Nairobi, June 20.
PRESIDENT IDI AMIN today
postponed the execution
of condemned Briton Denis
Hills but insisted that only a
personal visit by British For-
eign Secretary James Calla-
ghan could save his life.
Within hours of the arrival
of a British embassy carrying
an appeal for clemency from
the Queen, President Amin
announced that Mr Hills, a 61-
year-old lecturer, would be shot
on Monday - two days later
than originally planned.
(Cont. on page 4)

'Time is running
out' for 2 Britons
warns Idi Amin

PRESIDENT IDI AMIN said in Kampala yesterday the door
is still open for the British government to discuss the
fate of two Britons facing execution.

But the Ugandan leader warned 'time is running out.'
Uganda Radio, monitored
here, said President Amin
was speaking at a meeting
yesterday with the Acting
British High Commissioner
in Kampala, James Hennessy.

The sentenced Britons are
61-year-old university lecturer
Denis Hills, convicted of trea-
son and already sentenced to
death, and 38-year-old trader
Stanley Smolen, who is accused
of food hoarding, a capital of-
fence.

Hennessy handed to Pre-
sident Amin a signed letter
from British Prime Minister
Harold Wilson replying to a six-
point ultimatum given by Pre-
sident Amin to Britain last
week for the release of the two
Britons, the radio said.

Nairobi, June 18/

Deadline

President Amin told Mr. Hen-
nessy that British Foreign Sec-
retary James Callaghan or De-
fence Minister Roy Mason should
fly out for talks with him be-
fore his 10-day deadline for com-
pliance with his ultimatum ex-
pires Saturday.

Mr. Callaghan has already
indicated in the House of Com-
mons his willingness to visit
Kampala for talks - but said
he would undertake such a mis-
sion only if humanity prevails
in the cases of the two Bri-
tons.

This was taken to mean the
death sentences would have to
be rescinded before he visited
Uganda.

Delegation

President Amin said whoever
came to Uganda must be ac-
companied by a military dele-
gation to discuss Uganda's re-
quirements of spare parts for
British-supplied armaments.

This was one of President
Amin's six conditions. The
others included the cessation of
all anti-Uganda propaganda
by Britain and in the British
press and the return of all Ugan-
dan exiles living in Britain.

President Amin said his rul-
ing Defence Council was mak-
ing arrangements on when and
where to implement the death
sentence on Mr. Hills, who was
ordered to face a firing squad
by a five-man military tribu-
nal last Wednesday.

He was accused of referring
to President Amin in a manus-
cript as 'a village tyrant.'

--AP

ONE BRITON
ACQUITTED
IN UGANDA

Nairobi, June 19

BRITISH businessman Stan-
ley Smolen, who was
facing a possible death
penalty in Uganda on a
hoarding charge, was acquit-
ted today, Radio Uganda re-
ported.

The radio said that Mr. Smo-
len has been acquitted of all
charges by a Uganda military
tribunal.

Mr. Smolen had pleaded not
guilty to hoarding cooking oil
and soap, an offence which no-
rmally calls for a prison senten-
ce.

But President Idi Amin had
warned that Mr. Smolen could
have a firing squad if found
guilty.

(Cont. on page 2)

ONE BRITON ACQUITTED IN UGANDA

(Cont. from page 1)

After being acquitted, Smol-
en, 38, was received by Presid-
ent Amin, who congratulated
him and told him that it was
now clear that Uganda justice
was fair and not a fake, the
radio said.

Smolen, who was allowed to
go free as soon as he was ac-
quitted, thanked the General
for his kindness, the radio said.

--Reuter

Another Briton, 61-year-old
lecturer Denis Hills, faced exe-
cution by firing squad this week-
end following his conviction on
a treason charge on June 11.

In London, a British Foreign

Office spokesman welcomed the
news of Smolen's acquittal. He
said: "We are glad that clemency
has now been shown to Mr. Smolen."

British Foreign Secretary
James Callaghan has said he
would be prepared to visit
Uganda for talks with President
Amin if the two Britons were
treated humanely.

After the news of Smolen's
acquittal was announced, Uganda
Radio said that the Deputy
Police Superintendent who ar-
rested Mr. Smolen has now been
arrested himself for misinform-
ing the military tribunal and if
found guilty would be executed
by firing squad.

--Reuter

EGYPTIAN GAZETTE 6/20/75

The Lunatic Tyrant of Uganda

If Adolf Hitler had been created by Evelyn Waugh, the hybrid would be very like General Idi Amin, the lunatic tyrant of Uganda.

But General Amin cannot be dismissed as a figure of fun: the crisis that he has precipitated between Britain and Uganda is too serious for that.

Denis Cecil Hills, a British citizen and lecturer, is now scheduled to be executed July 4 for making disparaging remarks about General Amin in a book that remains unpublished.

Mr. Hills, 61, characterized General Amin in his manuscript as a "village tyrant." He was arrested, charged with treason, and condemned to die by a military tribunal in Uganda.

The execution was postponed when two British representatives arrived in Uganda with a personal plea from Queen Elizabeth. But General Amin now says that Mr. Hills will not be spared unless British Foreign Secretary James Callaghan flies to Uganda to negotiate a political settlement.

General Amin is demanding spare parts for British-made military equipment, the expulsion from Britain of refugees from Uganda, and the ending of "malicious propaganda" against Uganda. The British Foreign Office is maintaining a stiff upper lip; the British are not only concerned for the fate of Mr. Hills but the future of the 700 British citizens remaining in Uganda.

General Amin obviously wants to humiliate the British for his own personal reasons. "I am only fierce to the British because I want these people to kneel down at my feet," he said in a speech delivered June 13 in the main square of Kampala, the capital of Uganda, and broadcast over the radio.

It ought to be noted that the envoy from the Queen was Lieutenant General Sir Chandos Blair, who formerly served in the King's African Rifles in Uganda before the British colony was declared independent in 1962. General Amin was a sergeant under his command. General Blair was accompanied by Ian Graham, a retired army major who once was General Amin's battalion commander.

According to Radio Uganda, the two British officers approached "on their knees" to beg that Mr. Hills be spared.

But General Amin has since stated in a cablegram to the Queen that the British envoy behaved rudely and acted as if he were still General Amin's commanding officer, so the report seems untrue. In any event General Amin's anxiety to humiliate his old officers is a touch that a novelist -- Graham Greene, perhaps -- would understand.

General Amin is a gaudy villain in the 19th Century tradition, an antagonist for the likes of Chinese Gordon or Lord Kitchener. In dealing with him 20th Century diplomacy is unsuitable.

It's a shame that gunboats are out of style.

Amin Says Briton to Be Spared

KINSHASA, Zaire (AP)--President Idi Amin of Uganda Tuesday said that he has decided to pardon Denis Hills, the British lecturer who was ordered to be shot by a firing squad on Friday for describing Amin as a village tyrant in an unpublished book.

The national news agency Zaire Presse said Amin told a news conference he will respond favorably to a clemency request from President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire because Hills' confession showed he was at the service of his mentors. He gave no indication of who the mentors were.

The 61-year-old Hills, a resident of Uganda for 11 years, was convicted of high treason by a Ugandan military court.

Amin, on a 48-hour visit to Zaire, said he planned to inform the British charge d'affaires in Kinshasa of his decision to spare Hills.

Zaire Presse also quoted the Ugandan leader as saying he wants Mobutu to act as a mediator in all matters between himself and the British government.

Uganda decides fate of British lecturer today

Nairobi, June 22.
THE fate of British lecturer Dennis Hills, under sentence of death by firing squad for treason, will be decided tomorrow by the Ugandan Defence Council, Uganda radio said today.

The radio announced earlier that the execution of Mr Hills, set for tomorrow morning, had been postponed, after General Amin received an appeal from Queen Elizabeth delivered by Lieutenant-General Sir Chandos Blair and Major Iain Grahame, the Queen's other envoy. Both held the Defence Council meeting on a final decision on the Hills case.

The radio quoted General Amin as saying it was up to the Defence Council, the supreme policy-making body in Uganda under the chairmanship of the President, to make the decision.

The radio said that after the success of General Blair's visit to Uganda President Amin planned to send an envoy to London to establish afresh the relations between Britain and Uganda.

All indications in Nairobi were that President Amin would recommend to the Defence Council that Mr Hills' life be spared, according to diplomatic sources.

British government officials said today.

The officials were commenting on a statement broadcast by the Uganda government radio that the Queen's envoys, Lt Gen. Sir Chandos Blair and Major Iain Grahame, had gone down on their knees to plead for the life of British teacher Dennis Hills.

As a result of the plea, the radio said, President Amin postponed the execution of Hills set for tomorrow by firing squad on treason charges.

British officials said General Blair and Major Grahame were received by President Amin on yesterday at his home at Arua, 300 miles northwest of Nairobi. The home, they said, is a native-style hut thatched with a doorway so low seven Amin has practically to enter on his knees to greet his guests.

Reuter and AP.

UGANDA:
Kangaroo Court

"He has done harm to his people...
He has reimposed on Ugandans old habits of submission and servility that one hoped uhuru was eroding." The target of that broadside was none other than Uganda's President Idi Amin. And considering Amin's whimsical brutality, the criticism seemed temperate enough. The trouble was that the author of the remarks, British scholar Dennis Cecil Hills, lives inside the borders of Amin's kingdom. And when the Ugandan leader learned that, he ordered the 61-year-old Hills to stand trial for "treason" before a military court. Last week, Amin's court duly found Hills guilty. The sentence: death before a firing squad.

CALLAGHAN MUST GO TO UGANDA'

Amin puts off execution for another eleven days

London, June 23.
A BRITISH lecturer Dennis Hills will be executed in 11 days time unless British Foreign Secretary James Callaghan goes to Uganda, Uganda quoted President Idi Amin as saying today.

Hills is under sentence of death for treason, but the sentence was postponed today after he received an appeal for clemency from Queen Elizabeth given today.

Instead the execution was postponed yet again while General Amin reviewed his request for a visit by Mr. Callaghan, a request he also made last week.

Radio Uganda today also quoted an emissary of Queen Elizabeth as telling President Idi Amin that he faces military repercussions by Britain if he sticks to his decision to execute British lecturer Dennis Hills.

The Radio said the emissary, Lieutenant-General Sir Chandos Blair, threatened that Britain would use its forces stationed in Kenya against Uganda.

In London, however, a army spokesman at the Ministry of Defence said: "We have no army units in East Africa at the moment and we are not sending any out currently on exercise."

Mr. Callaghan has told the British Parliament he was willing to visit Uganda, but not under duress.

General Amin, according to the Radio today, said the advice he received from his Defence Council was not to change his decision on Hills unless Mr Callaghan visited Uganda.

He would be prepared to meet Mr. Callaghan at any time and the British Minister would receive a great welcome in Uganda. But he would have no choice but to implement his decision if Mr. Callaghan fails to go to Uganda, the Radio said. - Reuter

moves Amin, there are 800 more British nationals living in Uganda whom he could use as pawns on his own political chessboard.

Newsweek, June 23, 1975

Va. Pilot July 11, 1975 Both men saved. Jones & were.

Briton Freed by Uganda

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Denis Hills, who almost went before a firing squad for calling Ugandan President Idi Amin a "village tyrant," was freed Thursday and flew home to England with British Foreign Secretary James Callaghan.

The 61-year-old Hills, stepping aboard Callaghan's Royal Air Force plane with only a few possessions folded in a blanket, said he still loves Uganda. In freeing Hills, Amin declared his love for the British.

Hills walked unannounced into Amin's command post home as the president was talking with Callaghan, who flew to Africa on a two-day mercy mission to try to patch up British-Ugandan relations and win Hills' release after Amin gave him a reprieve from execution.

Standing beside Callaghan and Amin on the balcony of the house, Hills looked fit and untroubled despite three months in detention and his reported illness from cancer.

"I am well. I am very happy," Hills said at Entebbe Airport, 20 miles away on Lake Victoria.

"I would like to say how genuinely I have loved Uganda during my 12 years here and still do," he continued. "I am very sorry to be leaving Uganda.

"But I will never forget its beauty, the kindness of its people, and my pleasure in teaching Ugandan students."

Callaghan told newsmen after meeting with the mercurial Amin for 45 minutes that he is satisfied that more than 700 other Britons still living in Uganda are safe. He said top-level British and Ugandan officials will continue discussions to improve relations.

Amin told newsmen he is "definitely pro-British" and wants to strengthen ties between Britain and its former colony.

"I am not mad, as the British press has said," Amin declared.

Marine Flier Still Missing After Crash

NORFOLK A Marine Corps flier from Beaufort, S.C. was still missing late Wednesday after his F4 Phantom jet crashed shortly after taking off from the aircraft carrier Nimitz Tuesday.

Capt. David E. Fritz, 32, a radar intercept officer assigned to Marine Fighter Squadron 333, ejected safely, a Navy spokesman said, but couldn't be located by rescue helicopters after the accident.

Fritz's pilot, Capt. Eric Denkwalter, was rescued in good condition by a helicopter.

The accident happened about 5:15 p.m. when the nuclear carrier was operating off the Virginia Capes.

The destroyer Dale out of Mayport, Fla., is continuing the search.

The Navy said it had no explanation for the crash. The aircraft had been among 600 Navy and Marine Corps Phantoms that had been grounded earlier this month after the crash of an F4.

Tuesday, the Navy said that all the planes had been inspected for a defective control mechanism and were corrected or okayed for operations.

Va. Pilot