Ugandan dictator Idi Amin overthrown
On April 11 1979 Ugandan dictator Idi Amin flees the Ugandan capital of Kampala as Tanzanian troops and forces of the Uganda National Liberation Front close in.Two days later Kampala fell and a coalition government of former exiles took power.Amin chief of the Ugandan army and air force from 1966 seized control of the African nation in 1971.A tyrant and extreme nationalist he launched a genocidal program to purge Uganda of its Lango and Acholi ethnic groups.
In 1972 he ordered all Asians who had not taken Ugandan nationality to leave the country and some 60000 Indians and Pakistanis fled.These Asians comprised an important portion of the work force and the Ugandan economy collapsed after their departure.In 1979 his eight years of chaotic rule came to an end when Tanzania and anti-Amin Ugandan forces invaded and toppled his regime.Amin had launched an unsuccessful attack on Tanzania in October 1978 in an effort to divert attention from Ugandas internal problems.
He escaped to Libya eventually settling in Saudi Arabia where he died in August 2003.The deaths of 300000 Ugandans are attributed to Idi Amin.
