Idi Amin make Uganda an ally of the Soviet Union. Amin, who had served with the King's African Rifles and taken part in Britain's suppression of the Mau Mau uprising prior to Ugandan independence, was known by the British as "intensely loyal to Britain". This made him an obvious choice as Obote's successor. Although some have claimed that Amin was being groomed for power as early as 1966, the plotting by the British and other Western powers began in earnest in 1969, after Obote had begun his nationalisation programme. Following the expulsion of Ugandan Asians in 1972, most of whom were of
Alan Coren of children's books. One of his most successful books, "The Collected Bulletins of Idi Amin" (a collection of his "Punch" articles about Amin) was rejected for publication in the United States on the grounds of racial sensitivity. These Bulletins were later made into a comedy album, "The Collected Broadcasts of Idi Amin" with the actor John Bird. After the Tanzanian capture of Kampala in 1979 the American journalist Art Barrett discovered a copy of Coren's book on Idi Amin's bedside table. Coren's other books include "The Dog It Was That Died" (1965), "The Sanity Inspector" (1974), "All Except The Bastard"