CAIRO, August 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Amin was born in 1925 into the Muslim Kakwa tribe in Koboko in northwest Uganda, close to the borders of Zaire - now the Democratic Republic of Congo - and Sudan.

In 1946, he joined the King's African Rifles of the British colonial army, and being both big and a good sportsman - he held the title of Ugandan heavyweight boxing champion from 1951 to 1960 - he attracted attention among his superiors.

Amin was a member of the ruling elite that moved into positions of power when independence was declared, first as a crony of Obote, who made him chief of the army and air force, and then as his sworn rival.

As armed forces chief, Amin staged a coup on January 25, 1971, when Obote was out of the country, and proclaimed himself head of state.

Amin drove out of the country about 80,000 Ugandans of Asian origin, saying “God had commanded him to do so in a dream”. He distributed their vast businesses to his cronies, who mismanaged them, leading to an economic meltdown.

"Big Daddy," as he became known, began by slaughtering Obote loyalists, but the killing quickly spread from the barracks to the entire country, and included an Anglican archbishop, a chief justice and several cabinet ministers.

Up to 300,000 people are believed to have died during his eight years in office or are still unaccounted for.

He was reputed to have fed the remains of his victims to crocodiles in Lake Victoria and to have kept the heads of political rivals in his refrigerator.

His flamboyant strutting on the international stage saw him parading with medals and braid - recalling his service during the 1940s in the King's African Rifles of the British colonial army.

Amin never returned to his country since he was ousted by Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles on April 11, 1979.

At the height of his reign, fellow African leaders overlooked his blood-drenched rule and praised his anti-imperialism. He became head of the Organization of African Unity in 1975, according to AFP.

Eight Bloody Years
   
Idi Amin Dada's rule in Uganda was an eight-year reign of terror in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed and Asians were stripped of their wealth and expelled.
   
Some of the key dates of his rule from 1971 to 1979:
January 25, 1971: Armed forces head general Idi Amin seizes power while Milton Obote, who declared himself president in 1966, is away and proclaims himself head of state. Obote heads into exile in Tanzania.

March 30, 1972 : Diplomatic relations with Israel are severed.

August 5, 1972: Tens of thousands of Asians carrying foreign passports are expelled along with a number of Jews.

September 10, 1975: Pope Paul VI hosts Amin as the head of the Organization of African Unity.

July 4, 1976: Israeli commandos launch a dramatic raid on Uganda's Entebbe airport to free about 100 passengers on an Air France plane hijacked by Palestinians. The Israeli raid, which succeeded in freeing all hostages, is deeply humiliating for Amin.

July 28, 1976: Diplomatic relations with Britain, the former colonial power, are severed.

October 10, 1978: Attempted assassination of Amin in a Kampala suburb.

October 31, 1978: Ugandan forces invade neighboring Tanzania.

April 11, 1979: Amin is overthrown in a coup organized by the Ugandan National Liberation Front and the Tanzanian army and forced to flee.

The new regime, headed by UNLF leader Yusuf Lule, lasted barely two months before being overthrown and Lule replaced as head of state by Godfrey Binaisa, who was in turn toppled within a year.