◆ SpookStack

CONFIDENTIAL Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1A 2AH 2 June 1977 L Uganda Defector John Kerr sent you a copy of his minute of 1 June about ;the defection of Mr Kyemba, former Minister of Health in Uganda, •and the Sunday Times' intention to publish his story. The timing of the Sunday Times' story could scarcely be more unfortunate and it will, no doubt, be generally believed that the Government have encouraged publication of the Uganda horrors just at this time in order to justify their denial of entry. This is likely to be particularly true of the Nigerians about which you have just received a letter from Stephen Wall. The Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary suspects that the Sunday Times will be most reluctant to withhold publication of ja major scoop of this kind and the final deadline for printing is now not far away, if the first instalment is indeed to be published this Sunday, 5 June. All the same, Dr Owen believes that it would be helpful, in the context of the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, if the Sunday Times could be persuaded to agree to a week's postponement of publication. If the Prime Minister would like him to do so he would be prepared to suggest this to Mr Harold Evans, whom he knows well. The sooner that he can take action the better, though if this were not possible until tomorrow and the Prime Minister had agreed to send a message to General Obasanjo we might benefit from more clearer information about likely Nigerian reactions. H (E.A.J. Fergusson) Patrick Wright Esq., 10 Downing Street, London SW1. CONFIDENTIAL