EQUATORIAL Guinea prosecutors confirmed today they have charged Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in an alleged coup plot in the oil-rich west African nation. Mr Thatcher is accused of having helped finance the coup attempt, Attorney-General Jose Olo Obono said. Mr Thatcher was added to the existing list of 19 other defendants on trial in Malabo, all accused mercenaries, on Tuesday, Mr Obono said. Equatorial Guinea intends to seek Mr Thatcher's extradition, a legal official close to the government's case had said earlier this week. Equatorial Guinea alleges Mr Thatcher and other, mainly British financiers, worked with Equatorial Guinea opposition figures, scores of African mercenaries, and six Armenian pilots in a takeover plot. The coup plotters intended to force out the 25 year regime of President Teodoro Obiang and install an exiled opposition figure as a figurehead leader for Africa's No.3 oil producer, Equatorial Guinea claims. | They seem to have used the book "The Dogs of War" as a operational plan. |
The alleged plot was exposed in March by South African intelligence services, and scores of accused mercenaries were arrested in Malabo and in Zimbabwe. Mr Thatcher was arrested in August at his home in South Africa. South Africa's own investigation has also just linked Thatcher with the alleged coup plot, South Africa's News24 reported. News24 cited documents it said were submitted in Pretoria, South Africa by that country's National Prosecuting Authority yesterday. The documents allege meetings between Mr Thatcher, famed British mercenary Simon Mann and British financier Greg Wales, the report said. Mr Thatcher in January made two bank deposits for a helicopter to be used in the coup attempt, South African investigators said, according to News24. The trial in Equatorial Guinea resumed today, with prosecuton's lead witness formally facing the death penalty after repudiating his alleged confessions in the case in court on Tuesday. Three other accused mercenaries pleaded guilty in South Africa this week to involvement in the plot and agreed to testify against others in the case. Execution in Equatorial Guinea is generally by firing squad. |