Equatorial Guinea Seeks Thatcher Arrest

by Jordan Yerman | March 30, 2008 at 08:31 am

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Sir Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, is sought for trial by Equatorial Guinea over a failed coup attempt in 2004.

The country's attorney general said that Sir Mark, son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, had provided money and transport.

In 2005, Sir Mark was given a fine and a suspended sentence in South Africa after pleading guilty to unknowingly helping to finance the plot.

However, he has always denied any direct involvement.

He told the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper he was not worried by the arrest warrant.

"As far as I'm concerned the issue has already been dealt with," he was quoted as saying.

"I've been charged and tried in a court in South Africa on exactly those charges so I don't see what more they can do."

At least one former member of the British SAS challenges Thatcher's assertion of ignorance regarding the coup, according to Attorney General Jose Olo:

Jose Olo said former British special forces officer SimonMann had testified that Mark Thatcher knew all about the schemeto overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled theoil-rich West African country since 1979.

Thatcher has in the past admitted chartering a helicopterfor Mann, who was arrested in 2004 in Zimbabwe with 70mercenaries en route for Equatorial Guinea, but he has deniedany knowledge of the planned coup.

Olo said authorities in Equatorial Guinea -- sub-SaharanAfrica's third-largest oil producer -- were still takingtestimony from Mann ahead of a trial expected to start in May.

Mann admitted in an television interview broadcast inBritain this month that he plotted to oust Obiang.

"He has testified that Thatcher knew all about theoperation," Olo told Reuters. "If we can gather enough evidencewe will start a case against (Thatcher). ... We have still nottaken a decision."