Netanyahu visit to discuss terrorism
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
KAMPALA- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who arrives in the country tomorrow for the 40th anniversary of his country’s commando raid on Entebbe airport, will hold a meeting with invited regional heads of state, to discuss strategies on combating global terrorism.
The invited heads of state include South Sudan’s Salva Kiir, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Zambia’s Edgar Lungu, Tanzania’s John Magufuli, Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta and Malawi’s Peter Mutharika.
Mr Okello Oryem, the state minister for International Affairs, told Sunday Monitor that the regional heads of state summit will “basically discuss ways of how to fight terrorism but that will be after his [Netanyahu’s] private moment.”
The ceremony about the 1976 raid where Netanyahu’s brother was killed at the old Entebbe airport, according to the programme issued by government on Thursday, will start at 1pm and will be attended by only about 500 invited guests.
On July 4, 1976 a group of Israeli commandos raided the Entebbe airport on a mission to rescue 248 passenger/hostages aboard Air France that had been hijacked a week earlier by Islamist group of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The then president Idi Amin’s government which sympathised with the Palestinian cause had welcomed the hijackers.
The hijackers had separated Israeli hostages from the rest of the group, and moved them to a deserted building at the airport.
Uganda and Israel enjoy modest relations, especially on matters of security and intelligence.
Mr Oryem described Netanyahu’s visit “as a historic one for the country.”
Events to commemorate the day started early this week in Israel, with the country’s defence chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot saying the country will continue putting emphasis on fighting terrorism.
