After his release, Simon Mann seeks revenge and a book deal

Some facts may now emerge about the sponsors and planners of the 2004 coup attempt - and about who was set to benefit

An expensive round of score-settling and legal cases among the purported financiers and conspirators behind the 2004 coup plot in Equatorial Guinea is likely to be the immediate outcome of the release of convicted plotter Simon Mann, a dual British and South African national, in Malabo on 2 November. Less formally, Mann has some settling up to do with the soldiers imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea and Zimbawe. Mann was convicted in 2008 of leading a conspiracy to topple President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (AC passim). He was sentenced to 35 years but had cooperated fully with the Equatorial Guinean regime, prompting speculation that he might benefit from clemency. Officials in Malabo add that Mann had been interviewed in prison since his trial by British anti-terrorist police officers. The main targets, according to Mann, will be the businessmen Sir Mark Thatcher and Ely Claude Alan Calil, an oil trader who has dual Lebanese and British nationality.

Article Tags:
Simon Mann, British, South African, Zimbabwe, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Mark Thatcher, Ely Claude Alan Calil, Lebanese, Gabon, Omar Bongo Ondimba, Greg Wales, French, Spanish, United States, Severo Moto, Nick du Toit, George Alerson, Sergio Cardoso, José Sundays, Jacob Zuma, Billy Masetlha, Thabo Mbeki, Angola, Cameroon, Placido Miko, Africa Confidential, AC, Convergencia para la Democracia Social

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