James Zikusoka forces aligned to Milton Obote launched a botched attempt to overthrow Idi Amin, the dictator fired all cabinet ministers that he did not trust, Zikusoka included. Zikusoka sought political refugee in Kenya, and then later joined the United Nations Development Program and served as a consultant in New York and Saudi Arabia, then for the Commonwealth Secretariat in Barbados until Amin was overthrown in 1979. He served as Uganda's high commissioner to the United Kingdom, appointed to that position by Godfrey Binaisa,the then newly appointed President of Uganda in 1979. Later, from 1993 until 1997, Zikusoka served as the chairman
Hafizullah Amin Hekmatyar, one of the leading anti-communists in Afghanistan. His general untrustworthiness and his unpopularity amongst Afghans made it more difficult for Amin to find new "foreign patrons". Amin's involvement in the death of Adolph Dubs, the American Ambassador to Afghanistan, strained his relations with the United States. He tried to improve relations by reestablishing contact, met with three different American chargé d'affaires, and was interviewed by an American correspondent. But this did not improve Afghanistan's standing in the eyes of the United States Government. After the third meeting with Amin, J. Bruce Amstutz, the American Ambassador to Afghanistan from 1979