The Foreign Ministry dismissed as “utter nonsense” last night a charge by deposed President Milton Obote, of Uganda that Israel was involved in the military coup that led to the overthrow of his regime. A Ministry spokesman stressed that “Israel never interferes in the internal affairs of other countries.” The basis of Dr. Obote’s charge apparently was the fact that one of the coup leaders, Gen. Idi Amin, took a parachuting course in Israel in 1963. The course was given within the framework of a technical aid program carried out by Israeli experts over the past ten years in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Israeli officers helped train Uganda military units. Jerusalem’s relations with the East African nation have been extremely friendly and the coup is not expected to affect them.
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