◆ SpookStack

PRIME President Amin As you probably know, the reports that President Amin was about to land at Dublin Airport turned out to be a false alarm, and the Irish have now told us that they have no knowledge of any Ugandan aircraft destined for Ireland. Both the Irish and the Belgians have already issued statements to say that President Amin would not be allowed to land in their respective territories. The French, according to Reuters, have said that he would be allowed to land in France, but we have no confirmation of this yet. The French have undertaken to let us know at once of any indication they have that he might be flying to France. In spite of attempts to do so, we have still not had positive confirmation that Amin has left Uganda, although the Ugandans have, of course, announced his departure and the Vice President of Uganda has announced that he is in charge during Amin's absence. The Home Secretary has left a skeleton staff in charge of the Cabinet Office Briefing Room, and has returned home. He would like to have a word with you on the telephone, and we suggested that he might ring at about 16.00, before your meeting with Mr. Desai. Meanwhile, the Home Secretary's meeting today concluded that a statement should now be put out on the following lines: "Police and immigration officers throughout the UK have been put on the alert following reports from Uganda that President Amin had left to pay a visit to Britain. "The President has already been informed in a letter from the Prime Minister that his presence in Britain would be inappropriate." /Tom McCaffrey