Mark Thatcher arrested over coup plot

Thanks for the information. But it would be better, if you please remove the email address in the quote.

That's crackpot, to exploit a political case.

(It's obvious that this does not come from Sir Mark Thatcher himself. It's a classic 419, as shown by the bait of a large cash sum, the poor grammar and the absence of any traceable contact details.)

Sir Mark Thatcher will "easily" be able to prove he had nothing to do with an alleged coup plot in the oil-rich west African state of Equatorial Guinea, his lawyer said yesterday, despite the jailing of his close friend Simon Mann on arms charges.

Baroness Thatcher's son has been freed from house arrest in his luxury Cape Town mansion after his mother stood £165,000 bail for him, but he is not permitted to leave the Cape Peninsula and must report to the police every day. Last month he was arrested by the Scorpions, an elite unit investigating charges against him under South Africa's Foreign Military Assistance Act, and ordered to return to court in November.

"In the circumstances he is coping very well, because he believes he is innocent and is confident of the South African legal system," Sir Mark's local lawyer, Ron Wheeldon, said yesterday.

The main implication of Mann's seven-year sentence in Zimbabwe, Mr Wheeldon told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, was that the court found "no compelling evidence of a coup plot".

The only indication that such a plan existed, said the lawyer, came from "hearsay reports" by Nick du Toit, one of eight South Africans on trial in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, where they are charged with being the advance guard for a coup attempt. Mr du Toit was "apparently tortured", said Mr Wheeldon, "and certainly denied the sort of access to legal counsel that any civilised state would give a person".

Equatorial Guinea has suspended its trial until 1 October while it awaits the outcome of proceedings elsewhere. It has sent lawyers to South Africa, where the authorities have agreed to allow them to put questions to Sir Mark through a magistrate. A hearing for this has been set for next week, although Sir Mark's lawyers are contesting some of the arrangements.

The arrest of the former Prime Minister's son sharply increased international interest in an obscure saga which first came to light in March, when Mann, an Old Etonian former SAS officer, and a planeload of more than 60 alleged mercenaries, most of them former members of South Africa's special forces, were held in Zimbabwe. A day later Mr du Toit and his co-accused were arrested in Malabo.

Statements by Mann and Mr du Toit described a plot to overthrow Equatorial Guinea's dictatorial President, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, and replace him with an exiled opposition leader, Severo Moto. A London-based oil trader, Ely Calil, was named as the mastermind of the plot, and Equatorial Guinea has accused a number of Britons, both in this country and South Africa, of involvement. But Sir Mark was not named, either in the statements or in a document circulating in several countries which purports to list "investors" in the coup plan.

The accusations against Sir Mark are understood to be based on an investment of around US$275,000 that he made with Crause Steyl, a pilot who flew Dr Moto from Spain to Mali to await the outcome of events in Equatorial Guinea. Associates of Sir Mark have said the money was for an air ambulance enterprise in Sudan; yesterday Mr Wheeldon said he had invested in "a particular operation by a particular aircraft", and that "it seems some of that money was diverted without his knowledge".

Mr Steyl, whose brother Niel flew the aircraft seized in Zimbabwe, is understood to have turned state's evidence in South Africa, and may testify against Sir Mark. On Friday, when Mann was sentenced, Niel Steyl and his co-pilot were jailed for 16 months on immigration charges, while the other 65 men on the aircraft received 12 months.

In South Africa yesterday there were complaints at the severity of the sentences, given the length of time the men have already been held and the grim conditions in Zimbabwe's top-security Chikurubi prison, where they will serve their time.

Thatcher's lawyers challenge subpoena

September 13, 2004

Mark Thatcher's lawyers are in the Cape High Court today to challenge a subpoena compelling their client to appear in court to answer questions from Equatorial Guinea prosecutors.

"An urgent review application is being brought in the Cape High Court in order to challenge a range of aspects relating to the subpoena," said a member of the defence team who wanted to remain anonymous.

The subpoena was issued last week. It requires Thatcher, alleged to have plotted a coup in Equatorial Guinea, to appear in a Wynberg court on September 22. The subpoena was issued under the International Co-operation in Criminal Matters Act, after approaches by Equatorial Guinea prosecutors involved in the criminal trial of alleged mercenaries in that country.

"Somewhat surprised"
The defence team last week already raised possible reservations about the validity of the subpoena, with Alan Bruce-Brand, Thatcher's attorney, saying it had been issued without consultation with the defence team and had "somewhat surprised" them.

Under the subpoena, Thatcher is supposed to give answers to a South African magistrate. The questions have been drawn up by the Eqato-Guinean prosecutors.

Although they will be present in court, the prosecutors will not participate. Thatcher's appearance next Wednesday had no bearing on his November 25 trial date which relates to him breaking South African laws.

Thatcher faces two charges; contravention of the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act and conspiracy to contravene the act.

The State alleged Thatcher helped bankroll an aborted coup d'etat in Equatorial Guinea to the extent of $275 000. Thatcher was arrested in August and is out on bail of R2 million.

Coup confession 'made under torture'

A suspected mercenary on trial in Equatorial Guinea for an alleged British-led coup plot involving Mark Thatcher has retracted his confession, saying he had been tortured.

"There was no attempted coup d'etat in this country," South African arms dealer Nick du Toit told a court in the capital, Malabo. "I had to tell these people what they wanted. It was the only way to stay alive."

Wearing ankle shackles, he said an arrested German had been killed by his captors. The authorities have insisted he died of malaria. "We were tortured, we were roughly handled," du Toit said on Tuesday.

He blamed coup plans on Simon Mann, who is serving a prison sentence for related charges in Zimbabwe. According to agency reports, du Toit claimed he had been approached about a possible coup by Mann, a former British special forces officer, but he had refused to take part.

"They chose the first South Africans they could get their hands on and they arrested them," he said of the authorities in Equatorial Guinea.

He changed his story as the trial of 19 suspected mercenaries resumed in the small West African country after an 11-week break. Du Toit had been the only one to admit a role in a plot to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, which prosecutors say was backed by financiers keen for a stake in sub-Saharan Africa's third-largest oil producer.
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Sir Mark Thatcher, son of the former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, is awaiting trial in South Africa on suspicion of helping to fund the scheme. He has denied involvement.

On Tuesday, du Toit's defence lawyer said eight new names, including Thatcher's, had been added to the list of accused in Malabo. There were reports from Malabo that President Obiang is seeking to have Thatcher extradited. But South African diplomatic sources say this is unlikely to happen. They intend to try him themselves in the new year.

The Equatorial Guinea regime has accused two other London-based businessmen, Ely Calil and Greg Wales, of helping to fund the coup on behalf of an exiled politician, Severo Moto, now in Spain.

The Malabo regime has obtained bank and telephone records that appear to be consistent with du Toit's original statements, showing large sums being transferred to him from Mann's offshore account in Guernsey at the time of the attempted coup.

President Obiang has asked to see a British envoy to demand an explanation of the British Government's confirmation last week that it had advance knowledge of the coup attempt.