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Equatorial Guinea Coup: Scorpions Arrest Mark Thatcher

Lady Stella said:
Thatcher to be tried in absentia[/B]
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Well, even if he intended to turn up he'd only get lost on the way :).

Perhaps they should send Boris Johnson to Guinea to apologise on his behalf :D?
 
Slightly ot, i once read a story about a guy who was imprisoned in Africa somewhere who became the sexual plaything of the head honcho....

perhaps that's what Scratcher deserves. After all his mother f***ed many a Briton :D
 
Three to tell of Thatcher role in plot

Hi

more

source:
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1353627,00.html

quote:
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Three to tell of Thatcher role in plot

Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria
Thursday November 18, 2004
The Guardian

Three South Africans convicted yesterday of involvement in a coup in Equatorial Guinea are expected to give evidence linking Sir Mark Thatcher to the failed plot.

The men agreed a plea bargain deal to provide testimony against others charged with financing the coup, including Sir Mark, 51, the son of the former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

Crause Steyl, Lourens Horn and Harry Carlse yesterday pleaded guilty to violating South Africa's foreign military assistance act and were convicted in Pretoria magistrates court, according to the South African Press Association.

Mr Steyl was found guilty of supplying the plotters with air transport and men to take part in the coup. He was ordered to pay a fine of 200,000 rand (£18,000) or go to jail for 10 years. Mr Steyl is expected to give evidence against Sir Mark as the two were partners in an air transport business accused of providing the plane that was to transport mercenaries to Equatorial Guinea.

The two others were among the 70 men arrested on the plane in Zimbabwe on March 7, where they were about to receive a delivery of weapons, allegedly to be used in the coup. The two were ordered to pay fines of 75,000 rand or spend four years in prison. Their testimony will be important in determining that there was a coup plot.

Sir Mark's case is due to open in Cape Town on November 25.

"The sentences were negotiated long before ... they are quite happy that everything is now coming to finality as far as they are concerned," said Alwyn Griebenow, the lawyer for the three men, speaking on South African radio. In addition to the 70 men jailed in Zimbabwe, 19 men are standing trial in Equatorial Guinea's capital, Malabo, for allegedly taking part in the coup, but they have all denied any knowledge of it.


Prosecutors charge that Sir Mark was part of an international web of financiers keen for a stake in sub-Saharan Africa's third-largest oil producer.
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endquote

Mal F
 
Witness says Thatcher had role in coup plot

Greets

news update:

Witness says Thatcher had role in coup plot

Jamie Wilson and David Leigh
Monday January 3, 2005
The Guardian

The star witness against Sir Mark Thatcher has revealed the most detailed allegations yet of his role in a West African coup attempt, including claims that he helped test a helicopter for the operation.

Coup pilot Crause Steyl, in a plea-bargain in South Africa, has testified to a hitherto unknown string of meetings involving Sir Mark as an "investor".

This development comes as Simon Mann, the jailed former SAS officer alleged to have masterminded the coup attempt in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, has launched a vigorous counterattack against his accusers, claiming he was tortured into confessing to a role in the plot.

Mann, who was jailed for seven years in Zimbabwe in November on charges connected to the coup attempt, attempted to exonerate Sir Mark from any involvement in the botched plot in an affidavit drawn up by his lawyers and seen by the Guardian.

But Mr Steyl, a South African pilot convicted last month of violating South Africa's foreign military assistance act, has agreed to testify against Sir Mark in South Africa in return for escaping a hefty jail term.

Mr Steyl has confirmed to the South African authorities that he was recruited to provide air support by Mann, the old Etonian who was arrested at Harare airport along with 70 mercenaries allegedly bound for Equatorial Guinea.

He has told the authorities that he was introduced to Sir Mark by Greg Wales, the London-based businessman who has been accused of a central role in the plot, at Lanseria airport, north-west of Johannesburg, in December 2003.


He said that when he was introduced to Sir Mark it was explained: "He [Thatcher] would finance the helicopter for Equatorial Guinea."

He claims to have subsequently met the son of Lady Thatcher on at least two further occasions with Mann, including in Cape Town when Sir Mark, who is a qualified pilot, is said to have personally tested a helicopter due to be used in the coup attempt.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/equatorialguinea/story/0,15013,1382459,00.html

mal
 
oooooo this reminds me that there is a piece on this in the current Private Eye giving a rather different spin on this whole affair - interestingly as you'd think they'd love to stick the knife in on Thatcher. I'll OCR it in when I can find it.
 
Emperor said:
oooooo this reminds me that there is a piece on this in the current Private Eye giving a rather different spin on this whole affair - interestingly as you'd think they'd love to stick the knife in on Thatcher. I'll OCR it in when I can find it.
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Sorry I lost track of it and found it when I was tidying up - from Eye 1122 page 9:

ALLEGED mercenary mastermind Simon Mann this month delivered to a Guernsey court a statement denying any involvement in an alleged March coup plot in Equatorial Guinea.

Mann said he had been tortured into making an earlier confession apparently admitting his guilt. He said there was no proper basis to allegations by Equatorial Guinea linking him or friends Mark Thatcher and Ely Calil to any conspiracy. He also complained that Henry Page of British law firm Pennington's. who acts for Equatorial Guinea, had "completely invented the statement that he has attributed to me."

Most British newspapers are shy of criticising Page, on whom they have depended for their coverage of the story. Although, in September, Page's client's counsel in Guernsey said he had been instructed by Page to say he, Page, had not released a specific piece of financial information to the press, pretty much every newspaper, radio station and TV network in the land has received other information from him. Page has provided documents, arranged visas and fixed interviews for the many hacks ready to swallow the Equatorial Guinea government's colourful version of events.

But if the media has been overly beholden to the Pennington's man, learned friends and others may be less kind. In South Africa, Judge Deon Van Zyl was unimpressed with Page's contribution to action against the boy Mark: "A person who calls himself a solicitor of the supreme court of England and Wales and avocat at the Paris Bar has given us a document which is shocking in [the] extreme," he said. "If this is the nature of the legal advice the Equatorial Guineans are getting, I would suggest very strongly they get another legal adviser."

In Lebanon a judge ridiculed submissions by Page - based extensively on media reports many of which he had helped facilitate. And in Equatorial Guinea, where more than 20 alleged plotters were convicted last month for their part in what the government claims was an international conspiracy against oil-rich dictator Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Amnesty International and the International Bar Association have pointed to glaring deficiencies and abuses in a process Page described as meeting all international standards.

Why the media were ready to reproduce as their main source for the coup allegations - with no independent corroboration - legally suspect statements extracted from two of Africa's most grotesque prisons is something their lawyers may one day have to explain.

Most continue to report that Simon Mann and his merry band in jail in Zimbabwe were convicted in connection with a coup plot. They were not. Most were convicted on minor immigration offences, while Mann was convicted of seeking to buy guns. The court made no judgment as to where they had planned to go when they left Harare, nor what the weapons were for. Few papers have reported that most of those convicted in Equatorial Guinea worked for a company owned by, er, the president's brother and secret service chief. That contract was not circulated by Page.

The best may be yet to come, however. In civil action in London, Page is advising Equatorial Guinea to sue the alleged masterminds of the conspiracy for damages, arguing mental stress to President Obiang. This has the defendants' lawyers rolling in the aisles - as they will be able to demand an independent psychiatric assessment of the plaintiff, who since seizing power from his own uncle, subsequently executed, has been accused by human rights groups of hundreds of deaths, running a family-led government built on brutal torture and a senate investigation of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars.
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Breaking news - Mark Thatcher is going to plead guilty.

More when I find it.
 
Got it:

THATCHER TO PLEAD GUILTY

Sir Mark Thatcher is to plead guilty to unwittingly bankrolling an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea, say reports.

He is expected to be given a five year suspended sentence and a £300,000 fine by a court in South Africa.

It is understood Thatcher will then be allowed to leave the country, where he has effectively been under house arrest.

He was detained in his villa in Cape Town last August and accused of contributing around £141,000 to the alleged coup plot.

He was granted bail but was restricted to the confines of Cape Town.

He was also forced to hand over his passport and report to police every day.

Thatcher also faces charges in Equatorial Guinea in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

The son of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, he has lived in South Africa since 1995.

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More follows...
Last Updated: 18:16 UK, Wednesday January 12, 2005
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Source
 
Forgive my ignorance, but how does one 'unwittingly' finance an attempted coup?

"Sorry, I thought i was buying shares in this little pizza chain. Imagine my horror when the I discovered my money had been ploughed into gunships and high explosive."

Serious off-stage dabbling here, methinks.
 
The sheer moral bankruptcy of this scrot just beggers my mind. Potentially destablising a country causing untold misery, death and famine for thousands if not millions just in persuit of a few extra quid.

The worst thing anyone ever did was rescue him from the desert.
 
" Here's £141,000, I'm sure you'll spend it wisely,ohh pay me back when you can!". :roll:
 
dam he looks to have got away with it. (rather funnily by promising to snitch on his chums! LOL)... is someone on a suspended sentance soposed to get on a jet imedietly and leave the country?... i do hope hes going to report to the cop shop every week... and that he gets sued to hell in America..
 
Well, technically speaking, he hasn't gotten away with it. He's still been found guilty of a crime. And if he does anything else dodgy within the foreseeable future he'll be off to prison.
 
i bet hes drinking bubbly right now... flea bite fine and alwoed to sweep off the USA.... hold on do the USA want somone who supports terrorism to fly in?...i think they should be told!
 
JerryB said:
Well, technically speaking, he hasn't gotten away with it. He's still been found guilty of a crime. And if he does anything else dodgy within the foreseeable future he'll be off to prison.
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Not likely when in a different continent.
 
Well, you never know. Either way, I think it's unwise for people to say that he's gotten away with it. He has been found guilty of a serious crime. If the Scorpions had come up with more conclusive evidence to show his role in this event, then he wouldn't have had the chance to plea bargain. The problem is that his role is still surrounded by questions.
 
JerryB said:
Well, you never know. Either way, I think it's unwise for people to say that he's gotten away with it. ...
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Quite.

Plus apparently, there were lots of transcripts of recorded telephone conversations and etc. that could have dropped him further into sh*t, which is supposedly why he copped a plea.

Plus, he ratted on a mate. Which ultimately may be more damaging. Grassing up not being the done thing, don't y'know?
 
Saving his ass by ratting on long term friends, you gotta love the guy.

He's taking moral bankruptcy to new levels.


I still blame the parents, they don't teach their kids the difference between right and wrong you know. :no-no:



PS my view of the whole sordid affair- :rofl:

And again: :rofl:
 
Physick said:
I still blame the parents, they don't teach their kids the difference between right and wrong you know.
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After all he has a mother who supports general Augusto Pinochet's actions in Chile.
So what is to expect? :roll:
 
US link uncovered in Thatcher's coup plot role

Greets

US link uncovered in Thatcher's coup plot role*

*David Leigh
Monday January 24, 2005
The Guardian <http://www.guardian.co.uk>*

The prospect of Sir Mark Thatcher being allowed to return to the US to rejoin his wife and children in Dallas became more uncertain last night, as new evidence emerged that his role in an African coup attempt may have been more central than has been admitted, and involved questionable activities in the US.

A senior former state department official in Washington, Joseph Sala, has disclosed he was hired by the plotters to gain US support for the coup. Mr Sala tells a BBC3 TV programme tonight that he was offered $40,000 (£21,351) to promote the plotters' cause there. Records for Sir Mark's mobile phone show that he was among those placing calls to a London businessman accused of masterminding the Washington plot.

Eli Calil, a millionaire middleman in African oil deals and a friend of the Labour politician Peter Mandelson, was allegedly at the centre of a group of London businessmen and mercenaries trying to promote their own candidate to take over the tiny but oil-rich state of Equatorial Guinea.

Its ruler, President Teodoro Obiang, was believed to be dying of cancer, and valuable oil concessions were hoped to be up for grabs. Much of the country's mushrooming oil industry is controlled by US companies.

Sir Mark is in limbo, staying at his mother's house in London while he attempts to renew his visa to gain entry to the US. The US authorities are deciding whether to grant him admission, despite his having a criminal conviction.

The former prime minister's son fled South Africa following his conviction and £270,000 fine there for financing a helicopter gunship to be used in the coup. In a plea bargain, Sir Mark admitted investing in the mercenaries' scheme, despite realising the helicopter "might" be used for mercenary activity. He and his friends have tried to present his role as unwitting and peripheral.

But the new evidence appears to place him at the centre of events. Phone records which the Guardian has seen show him placing two international calls from his home in South Africa to the mobile phone of Eli Calil, then based in his London mansion in Chelsea.

The calls were made within half an hour on February 2 last year, when planning for the coup was at its height. A fortnight earlier, Sir Mark had invested $275,000 during meetings in South Africa. Other alleged plotters had travelled to Spain to brief their candidate for president, the exiled African politician Severo Moto. In a third key leg of the alleged plan, a British businessman, Greg Wales, went to the US and hired a lobbyist who had influence in Washington.

Joseph Sala, who now runs the lobbying firm the ANN Group, says in tonight's programme: "The arrangement that we struck with Wales and the friends of Moto [unidentified] in February was that we would be paid $40,000 to put together a four-day programme for Moto in Washington, access to the Congress, think-tanks, media". He tells the programme, Thatcher and the Coup that Failed, that "the assumption in Washington would be that Calil wanted access to Equatorial Guinea's oil and that he, Calil, was prepared to do whatever was necessary to bring Moto to power on the assumption that Moto would return the favour.

"It's callous, it's crude, but it's the way of the world."

Mr Sala says it was only when he visited state department officials on Mr Moto's behalf that he discovered the true financial backer was Eli Calil. He says the plotters were not honest with him, and concealed their intention to use mercenaries to overthrow the regime. Lord Bell, the public relations man who has been acting as spokesman for Sir Mark, told the Guardian he had no comment on the allegations about Sir Mark's phone calls. Mr Calil and Mr Wales are both still at liberty and deny involvement in the coup attempt.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1396904,00.html

mal
 
interesting article which, in conjunction with the stories here about mark thatcher, highights the different ways in which we treat those opposed to equatorial guinea's government.


Moto accuses Spain of wanting him dead

ONE week after he was declared missing feared dead, the exiled opposition leader of Equatorial Guinea has turned up and accused Spain's secret services of wanting to kill him.

Severo Moto, who was found guilty of trying to overthrow the government of Teodoro Obiang Nguema in an alleged coup and has been living in exile in Madrid, said he had fled to Croatia in fear for his life.

He accused Spain of wanting to improve relations with Equatorial Guinea to search for oil, and he told a Croatian newspaper: 'I am an obstacle to deals with the dictator Obiang and for that reason they wanted to eliminate me.' The Spanish government denied any threat to Mr Moto, who said he plans to return to Spain, and said it was investigating his whereabouts.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/interna ... =452012005
 
'Plotter' fears E Guinea maltreatment.

Mann is due to be released in May on good behaviour

A Zimbabwe court has begun hearing an application to have the British leader of a group of alleged mercenaries extradited to Equatorial Guinea.
Simon Mann is accused of being the mastermind of a plot to overthrow Equatorial Guinea's president in 2004.

The former SAS-man was arrested and jailed in Zimbabwe for apparently trying to buy military-hardware as part of the plot.

His lawyer argued the request should be turned down, as he would not receive a fair trail.

Mann, who is serving a four-year sentence in Zimbabwe for buying military-hardware without a licence, is due to be released in May for good behaviour, Reuters news agency reports.

'Key person'

"Because this case is political, he [Mann] will not get a fair trial and he will be severely-tortured," Mann's lawyer Jonathan Samkange told the court.

The applicant has also given assurances that the death-sentence will not be pursued if Mr Mann is convicted

Lawyer Joseph Jagada

Twenty-three suspected mercenaries have already been convicted in Equatorial Guinea in connection with the coup plot.

"Others facing the same charges have not received a fair trial, one has died from abuse," he said.

But in a written request to the court, Equatorial Guinea's attorney general said it was important that Mann answer questions in connection with the conspiracy.

"Simon Mann is the intellectual head of the mercenary-operation and coup plot. He is the key person who planned and led this operation," AFP news agency quotes Jose Olo Obono as saying.

The lawyer representing the oil-rich state said there was enough evidence to show Mann had a "legal case to answer".

"The applicant has also given assurances that the death-sentence will not be pursued if Mr Mann is convicted, and that he will get a fair trial," Joseph Jagada said, Reuters reports.

No show

Mr Samkange said his client, who did not appear in court on Thursday, was ill and was due to have an unspecified operation soon.



But he said Mann was expected to give evidence at later proceedings. Mr Mann was arrested in March 2004 for purchasing military-hardware in Zimbabwe for the planned coup attempt.

More than 60 men arrested with him - most of them South African citizens of Angolan origin - were released in 2005 after serving a year's sentence in Zimbabwe.

They flew to Zimbabwe from South Africa to pick up the material and were allegedly on their way to Equatorial Guinea to meet another group involved in the plot, when both groups were arrested.

Sir Mark Thatcher, son of former UK Prime Minister now Baroness Thatcher, was fined and received a suspended-sentence in South Africa for his involvement in the affair.

The relatives of those being held in Equatorial Guinea have complained of abuse and unfair treatment.

One suspect, a German, died in prison.

Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish colony, has been ruled by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema since he seized power from his uncle in a coup in 1979.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6366489.stm
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Eight accused of Equatorial Guinea coup plot walk free


Eight men accused in South Africa of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea which was partly financed by Mark Thatcher, the son of the former British prime minister, had the charges against them dismissed today.

Magistrate Peet Johnson, sitting in Pretoria regional court, threw the case out after a number of state witnesses claimed the attempted coup was sanctioned by the South African, British and American governments.

The eight were among a group of more than 60 mercenaries arrested in March 2004 when they flew to Harare international airport from South Africa, allegedly to refuel and pick up military equipment on their way to the oil-rich west African state. Most of the group spent a year in prison in Zimbabwe but the ringleader, the former British SAS soldier Simon Mann, remains in jail.

Article continues They were accused of contravening South Africa's tough foreign military assistance act. But the magistrate said that, while the actions of the men were unlawful, he could not find by 'any stretch of the imagination' that they had knowingly contravened the act.

He said the government's own witnesses proved the defence of some of the accused; that they believed South Africa had approved the coup attempt. Others were under the impression that they were going to guard a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.'There was credible evidence by the state's witnesses that the coup was sanctioned by the South African government or that they (accused) were under the impression that it was sanctioned,' Mr Johnson said.During the trial, Crause Steyl, a pilot involved in the coup who turned state witness, shed new light on Thatcher's involvement. Steyl said Thatcher displayed numerous 'nervous twitches' when they met to arrange the financing of a $250,000 (127,000) helicopter.'He was concerned once the helicopter was acquired on whose name it was going to be registered - anyone but his,' Mr Steyl said. In a 2005 plea bargain, Thatcher was fined and given a four-year suspended sentence.

In an attempt to rebut allegations of government appproval, the director general of the South African secret service, Hilton Dennis, was yesterday called as the last state witness. He admitted that he knew of the plot but did not sanction it.

Explaining why he allowed the men to fly out of South Africa, he said: 'There are many ways to kill a cat. We chose this route and succeeded in preventing the coup.'Jack Straw, the former British foreign secretary, has also admitted knowing about the plot two months beforehand, but he made no effort to warn President Teodoro Obiang.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/equatorialgui ... ss&feed=12
 
The full interview: Simon Mann speaks for the first time

Simon Mann has been imprisoned for four years over allegations he led a plot to overthrow the President of Equatorial Guinea.

The ex-SAS soldier has spoken for the first time and here is the full interview with Channel 4 News correspondent Jonathan Miller.

Simon Mann: “Well, you know, it was a f***-up. And I have to carry the can for that. Really and truly, I blame myself most for simply not saying 'Cut' two months before we were arrested. That's what I should have done and there, you know, I was bloody stupid. [Laughs]. Mea culpa."

continues


Link

I saw the interview on Channel 4. I must say he looked remarkably chipper for a man facing the rest of his natural in prison. I know they learn how to handle unsolicited sodomy at Eton but will he be prepared for the broken glass in his porridge?
 
Simon Mann could be returned to UK

Simon Mann, the British mercenary being held at the notorious Black Beach prison in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, could be repatriated to serve out his 34-year sentence in a British jail, if Scotland Yard can reach a deal with the authorities in the West African state.

Mann, an Old Etonian and former SAS officer, was jailed last July after admitting his part in a failed coup to overthrow the state's much-feared dictator, President Teodore Obiang, in 2004.

The reason why London detectives want Mann back is because he might be needed to appear as a witness in a trial of Sir Mark Thatcher and the Lebanese-born businessman Ely Calil - both of whom, according to Mann, hatched the 2004 plot to overthrow Obiang and hired Mann and his team to do the job. If it can be proved that the plot was hatched in London - as Mann contends - then that would be an offence under the UK's Terrorism Act of 2002.

According to a report in the Mail on Sunday, Mann is "desperate" to give evidence against the two men. Scotland Yard have already questioned Calil under caution: he is reported to have admitted that he supported "regime change" in Equatorial Guinea and even financed plans by the exiled president Severo Moto to return to power, but said categorically: "I am not a coup planner".

Thatcher, son of the former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, has always denied the allegation. When he was arrested in South Africa after allegedly investing £175,000 to buy a helicopter for use in Mann's operation, he claimed he was under the impression that he was funding an air ambulance.

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/people,21 ... o-uk,81532
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This story is from late-April, but interesting.
 
Although I don't much like myself for indulging in the bitter delights of schadenfreude, the thought of Thatcher's son being prosecuted under the Terrorism Act is going to keep me warm for several nights.

When he rings his dear old mum will his words have to be spoken by an actor? As for depriving him of the 'oxygen of publicity', how about keeping it simple and just depriving the oaf of oxygen.
 
If you honestly thought this was natural and no strings were pulled, frankly, you're crazy:

Coup plot Briton granted pardon

Former British soldier Simon Mann, sentenced to 34 years for a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea, has been pardoned by the country's president.

A presidential adviser told BBC News Mann and four South Africans jailed alongside him had been pardoned and had to leave the country within 24 hours.

Mann, who was sentenced in July 2008, admitted conspiring to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema during his trial.

Mann's family said they were "absolutely delighted."

Their statement said: "Everyone is profoundly grateful to the president and the government of Equatorial Guinea.

"The whole family is overjoyed at the prospect of finally welcoming Simon home after five-and-a-half long years away."

The adviser, Miguel Mifuno said Mann, 57, had been released on humanitarian grounds related to his health. Mann had a hernia operation in 2008.

'Live in peace'

Mr Mifuno said: "Simon Mann conducted himself in exemplary fashion during his trial and his incarceration in Equatorial Guinea.

"He has had some health problems, and was operated on. He is now in good health but the president thinks he should now be allowed to live in peace with his family."

Friends of Simon Mann have been hinting quietly for some weeks that his release might be imminent.

But the apparent timing, three weeks ahead of presidential elections in Equatorial Guinea, would be something of a surprise in a country where officials constantly fear concessions might be interpreted as weakness.

The 2004 African mercenary escapade in which Mann was the central player was marked by intrigue, betrayal and deceit - and that was just on the part of the plotters.

If he is out and free to speak his mind, probably he alone will be able to explain what went on, why it failed and who was to blame.

Mr Mifuno told BBC News Nick du Toit, a South African convicted for taking part in the attempted coup, had also been pardoned.

He said the releases were timed to coincide with a visit to Equatorial Guinea by South African President Jacob Zuma.

The Foreign Office said it understood it was a personal decision by the president on humanitarian grounds.

Equatorial Guinea's Supreme Court Judge told the BBC that Mann would be leaving jail on Tuesday and his family were due out on Tuesday morning.

Justice Obono Olo also said he had met Mann in the past few days and said he was, "in good health."

BBC Africa bureaux editor, Sara Halfpenny, said Mann was very unlikely to travel to Johannesburg as he ran the risk of being arrested under the South Africa Mercenary Act.

Scotland Yard wanted to talk to Mann about possible involvement of Ely Calil and Sir Mark Thatcher in the coup, she added.

Sources in Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command have confirmed to the BBC that there is an ongoing investigation into whether any offences relating to the coup were committed in the UK.

'Pawn'

In March 2004, Mann and 63 others were arrested in Zimbabwe on board a plane which arrived from South Africa. Its destination was Equatorial Guinea.

His extradition came after he had served four years in prison in Zimbabwe for trying to purchase weapons without a licence.

Equatorial Guinea, an oil-rich former Spanish colony, has been ruled by President Obiang since he seized power from his uncle in 1979.

Map of Equatorial Guinea

Mann's lawyer had asked for leniency, saying his client was a pawn of powerful international businessmen and he had been "not a co-author" of the coup plot but "an accomplice".

The former special forces officer apologised, saying he was not the most senior coup plotter.

Mann had implicated Sir Mark Thatcher, son of UK former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and London-based millionaire Ely Calil as organisers of the plot.

Sir Mark, who now lives in southern Spain, was fined and received a suspended sentence in South Africa in 2005 for unknowingly helping to finance the plot.

After Mann's verdict, Sir Mark reiterated to the BBC that he had had no direct involvement. He said he had known nothing about any plan to overthrow the government and added that he had already faced justice in South Africa.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8339372.stm
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Edit: Story text updated
 
Well there's a welcome surprise, I thought Mr Mann was a goner. Considering President Obiang promised to personally sodomise him and then skin him alive, I fully expected Mr Mann to have had "an accident" in jail and be long dead by now.

If strings have been pulled, well, it's about fucking time, British MPs can't wait to stand up and defend dipshit teenagers who smuggle Heroin in Laos, but stay strangely silent when British citizens get bumped out of Zimbabwe to face trial in other tinpot republics. (Regardless of what he did, or was accused of, the extradition was wrong.)

I really hope that little oily yellow-bellied worm Thatcher is shaking in his furry slippers now waiting for Mann's knock on the door.
 
I think it's Ely Calil who will be having a few sleepless nights.
 
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