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2/ One early evening on the eve of 4th July 1976, a number of Mossad agents were holed up at an unnamed building in downtown Nairobi.
3/ They were in a radio room, coordinating with Tel Aviv the final part of what would turn out to be the world's most daring hostage r
4/ escue - at Entebbe.
5/ Around the precincts of the Nairobi building - some sources claim it was the Hilton - GSU commandos kept guard (AU countries,...
6/ ...including Kenya, had ceased diplomatic relations with Israel following the Yom Kippur war. So there was no embassy building).
7/ Days earlier, on 27th June, terrorists from the Popular Front For The Liberation of Palestine, along with an East German revolut
8/ ionary cell, had hijacked an Air France plane, which they boarded at Athens international airport. 
9/ The flight, which had 248 passengers and 12 crewmen, was first commandeered to Tripoli and, later, to Entebbe, Uganda, whose leader,...
10/ ...dictator Idi Amin, was a PLO sympathizer and ally.
11/ At Entebbe, a number of passengers, mostly non-Jews, the elderly and children, were released as part of the negotiations.
12/ The hijackers demanded a $5M ransom plus the unconditional release of no fewer than 40 Palestinian prisoners in Israel and
13/ 13 others jailed in Kenya, Switzerland, France and Germany.
14/ Unknown to the world, and to the hijackers, Israel's military and intelligence corps were throughout the negotiations episode...
15/ ...planning an elaborate hostage rescue, which eventually happened on 4th July, 1976.
16/ But the rescue wouldn't have happened without Kenya's help on several fronts.
17/ On one, the Mossad director contacted Kenyan agriculture minister, Bruce Mackenzie, who networked with Nicholas Biwott, the home...
18/ ...affairs undersecretary. Mackenzie and Biwott were confidants since Biwott served as Mackenzie’s personal assistant from 1968 to1970.
19/ Their network enabled Mossad operative Shalomo Gal to charter a plane from Nairobi and take photos of Entebbe. They needed good...
20/ ...photos of the terminal building at which the hostages were being held. These photos would augment the 1971 blueprint of the...
21/ ...Entebbe airport terminal Mossad had secured from Solein Boneh, the Israel Company that constructed it.
22/ Additionally, Michael Harari, another Mossad agent, provided useful information after he bravely disguised himself as an Italian...
23/ ...businessman and travelled to Uganda from Nairobi for espionage at the time of the hostage saga.
24/ But if there was one thing the Israelis were in desperate need of - it was a refueling stop after the raid. Although the Israeli...
25/ ...pilots had trained to fly with low stocks of fuel, it was going to be a risky exercise. Equally risky was to try and refuel at...
26/ ...Entebbe itself.
27/ Reports say that when first requested, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta declined to provide use of landing facilities. Initial diplomatic requests...
28/ ...had come to Kenyatta via Geoffrey Kareithi, the Kenyan Chief Secretary at the time. Mzee was afraid of a diplomatic fallout,...
29/ ...considering that many countries with which Kenya had friendly relations were sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
30/ Moreover, pro-Soviet Amin's military had recently been freshly equipped - and formidably so - by Moscow. The last thing Mzee wanted...
31/ ...was to risk war with Uganda.
32/ But the rescue planners in Tel Aviv decided to take another risk - the hostage rescue commando force was ordered to fly out to...
33/ ...Entebbe for the mission without a fueling stop in mind. The force was commanded by Col. Jonathan "Yoni" Netanyahu (PM Benjamin...
34/ ...Netanyahu's late elder brother).
35/ By the time the rescue aircraft had reached cruising altitude, Israeli leaders were already on a charm offensive on Kenyatta.
36/ According to sources, Israeli Prime Minister Rabin telephoned Kenyatta. After pleasantries, Rabin reportedly tactfully told the...
37/ ...Kenyan president how he had found his (Kenyatta) book, Suffering Without Bitterness, a worthwhile read. In fact, Rabin told Mzee,...
38/ ...he had read the book four times.
39/ Rabin also reminded Mzee how Israel had offered training after independence to Kenya's first batch of fighter jet pilots that...
40/ ...included Col. Dedan Gichuru, who was the Airforce commander at the time of the call.
41/ On his part, Mzee expressed fears of Amin waging war on Kenya. Rabin assured him that should Uganda's military machine roll onto...
42/ ...Kenya, he could count on Israeli military help.
43/ Rabin eventually got what he sought - Mzee's nod for Israel to use Embakasi airport as refueling stop.
44/ The following morning, the world woke up to shocking news that Israel had in a 60-minute operation, which ended shortly before 3am,...
45/ ...killed all terrorists and staged a dramatic rescue at Entebbe. Col. Netanyahu was the sole Israeli soldier killed by Ugandan...
46/ ...troops responding to the furtive assault.
47/ That same morning, a disbelieving Amin stormed the airport to macabre scenes of dead Ugandan troops and blood splattered on walls.
48/ He also came across dead bodies of the Palestinian and German terrorists.
49/ And when he moved towards the hangar, he was crestfallen to see that the Israelis hadn't spared precious MIG fighters that Moscow had...
50/ ...bequeathed Uganda. These had been bombed to prevent the Ugandan Airforce from pursuing the Israelis into Kenya.
51/ In effect, Uganda's Air Force was wiped out to the relief of Kenya, which was worried about the strength of Amin's military.
52/ In the days that followed, Amin turned his fury on Kenya. Some Kenyans suffered attacks in the hands of Ugandans - both civilians and...
53/ ...troops. A big number of Kenyans closed their businesses and returned home.
54/ Uganda moved scores of tanks and infantrymen to the border with Kenya.
55/ With her relatively less powerful military, Kenya mobilized citizen protests and marches throughout the country against Amin.
56/ Some leaders like Mulu Mutisya organized protests by huge numbers of bow and arrow-wielding protestors in Ukambani. There were...
57/ ...similar scenes throughout the country, even as the United States rushed an aircraft carrier off the coast of East Africa in...
58/ ...solidarity with Kenya.
59/ The resounding message to Amin, who had threatened to annex Kenya "up to Naivasha", was that Kenya would defend itself to the last...
60/ ...drop of blood.
61/ As the standoff continued, James Kanyotu, Kenya's intelligence chief, reportedly hatched a plan.
62/ If Uganda's military breached the border, Kanyotu mulled, Kenya would blast all fuel tanks and petrol stations west of Nakuru to...
63/ ...starve the invaders of fuel for their mechanized units.
64/ This plan, sources say, was deliberately leaked to the Ugandan military. The warmongering subsided and Uganda, realizing that Kenya...
65/ ...meant business, withdrew troops from the common border.
66/ Although Idi Amin was never to bother Kenya again, he managed to exact revenge by plotting the assassination of Bruce Mackenzie, who...
67/ ...was rumoured to have ties with western intelligence agencies (including Mossad).
68/ When departing from Uganda following a visit, Mackenzie was given a sculpture containing a time bomb as a gift, which exploded over...
69/ ...Ngong Hills as his small chartered plane approached Wilson airport, Nairobi.
