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L.UJNUIDENTIAL m«w Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1A 2AH 14 November 1975 i You sent me a copy of President Amin's message about Angola to the Prime Minister. President Amin's interest in Angola stems from his */ Chairmanship of the OAU and to a lesser extent from the '** influence which his 'best friend1, President Mobutu of Zaire, has doubtless been bringing to bear on him. The Defence Commission of the OAU has recently been discussing in Kampala the Angolan situation under Ugandan chairmanship. Representatives of all three Angolan parties have been present. The object of the message is almost certainly to win support for Amin in his current row with the Soviet Union, nominally over Angola but probably also arising from differences with the Soviet Union over their supply of military equipment and training to Uganda. This view is reinforced by a Radio Uganda report that very similar messages were sent to Chairman Mao and President Ford. Copies were sent to all OAU Heads of State. We suspect either that Uganda is being asked to pay more for this equipment than she can afford or that the Russians have imposed restrictions on its supply and use. On 9 November President Amin threatened to break off relations with the Soviet Union and on 11 November he expelled the Soviet Ambassador. On the same day the Russians announced a 'temporary' break in relations with Uganda, The present state of play is confused. Although Amin has privately said that he intends that all the Russians should go, there can be no doubt that he badly needs the presence of at least some Soviet military training personnel. He has however already started to think of alternative sources of training for his officers and mentioned Warminster to our Acting High Commissioner, Jim Hennessy, who called on him today (Kampala telno. 642), /Our P.R.H. Wright, Esq., 10 Downing Street, London S.W.I. CONFIDENTIAL