Uganda unveils statue of Israel PM's brother who died in Entebbe rescue mission
Acknowledging the deaths of the soldiers, Kainerugaba said they had "fought valiantly... in what they believed was a justified cause. Of course, today, we know that the government of Idi Amin, which they served, was a brutal dictatorship which did not represent the Ugandan people."
The Paris-bound plane, which had taken off from Tel Aviv on 27 June 1976, made a stop in Athens, which is where the hijackers, from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, boarded the aircraft.
They took control and forced the plane to divert to Libya, where it refuelled. The Airbus A300 then flew to Uganda, where Amin welcomed it as it landed.
The hijackers demanded $5m and the freeing of 53 militants jailed in Israel, France, Germany, Switzerland and Kenya in return for the hostages. Some of the hostages were released on 30 June and 1 July, but Israelis and Jews remained.
On 3 July, after flying from Israel via Kenya, elite commandos landed at Entebbe and launched the operation that lasted less than 90 minutes.
The rescue mission was celebrated in Israel but was a profound humiliation to Amin.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Entebbe a decade ago where he said: "I learned from my brother that you need two things to defeat the terrorists: clarity and courage."
Kainerugaba called what happened half a century ago "a painful chapter in our history" but, he added, Uganda-Israel relations have developed into a "partnership characterised by mutual trust, respect and co-operation".
SOURCE/AUTHOR : BBC NEWS/Richard Kagoe
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