TODAY IN HISTORY

|AIR FRANCE A-300B AIRBUS HIJACKED AND DIVERTED TO ENTEBBE, UGANDA|

On June 27th, 1976, Air France Flight 139 en route from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by two Palestinians from the Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine, and two Germans from the guerrilla group Revolutionary Cells. They forced Michel Bacos, the captain of the flight, and his crew to fly to Benghazi in Libya. After refuelling at Libya, they forced Michel Bacos to fly to Entebbe, where the hijackers were joined by at least three more Palestinian militants and Ugandan troops. Uganda’s leader, Idi Amin, was also at the tarmac to welcome the hijackers who demanded the release of 54 militants and five million dollars as ransom. Idi Amin, Uganda’s erratic dictator at the time, was a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and a professed enemy of Israel.

Idi Amin talks to hostages. Photograph: AP