Raid on Entebbe leader dead at 70

TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Lt. Gen. Dan Shomron, the Israeli paratroop commander who led a 1976 raid to free 103 hostages at Uganda's Entebbe Airport, has died in Israel at age 70.

Shomron, a former chief of Israel's general staff, suffered a stroke three weeks ago and was undergoing rehabilitation when he died Tuesday, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

In an operation that seemed right out of a Hollywood action movie, Shomrom and his troopers flew a transport plane to the Entebbe airport to free passengers of a hijacked Air France jetliner.

Several commandos exited the plane inside a black Mercedes flying the Ugandan flag, fooling Ugandan soldiers into thinking the car belonged to their ruler, Idi Amin.

Three Israelis who were among the hostages died in the raid along with one of the commandos, the brother of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hollywood made a movie of the operation in 1977 called "Raid on Entebbe" with Charles Bronson playing the part of Dan Shomron

In a 2006 interview, Gen. Shomron said he didn't like being viewed as a superhero.