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Mark Thatcher to be asked about alleged coup masterminds
Businessman Mark Thatcher will Friday be asked in court to shed light on the alleged masterminds of a botched coup plot in Equatorial Guinea, including oil tycoon Eli Calil and novelist Jeffrey Archer.
The son of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher has been subpoenaed by a South African court to answer questions submitted by Equatorial Guinea prosecutors about a plot to topple longtime leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
Thatcher, 51, last month pleaded guilty in a Cape Town court to violating South Africa's anti-mercenary laws and paid a hefty three million rand fine (267,000 pounds) for his role in the coup plot.
According to the list of more than 40 questions sent by Malabo to Thatcher's lawyers, the son of the Iron Lady will be asked about the role of Calil, a London-based Lebanese businessman said to be at the centre of the planned coup in the oil-rich west African country.
"Do you know the following persons? ... If yes, can you tell us since when, indicating the dates, month and the year you have met, and the issues discussed?" one question asks.
It lists several names including alleged conspirators Calil and Archer and British businessmen Greg Wales and David Tremain who is based in South Africa.
Thatcher was arrested last August for allegedly putting up 275,000 dollars (145,000 pounds) to purchase a helicopter to fly opposition leader Severo Moto, currently living in exile in Spain, to Malabo once Obiang had been deposed.
Thatcher will also be asked about his relationships with Moto and fellow Briton Simon Mann, currently serving a four-year jail sentence in Zimbabwe for his alleged role in the coup plot.
Mann, a former member of the elite Special Air Services, was arrested alongside a group of suspected mercenaries on March 7 last year at Harare international airport en route to Equatorial Guinea.
Also mentioned in the questions is Nick du Toit, the alleged South African leader of an advance group of mercenaries in Equatorial Guinea. Du Toit is currently serving a 34-year sentence in a Malabo jail.
"These questions, depending on how he is going to answer them, will give final clarity on his position. He is going to emphatically answer them," Thatcher's lawyer George van Niekerk told AFP.
The South African justice ministry in September agreed to a request from Malabo to allow questions to be put to Thatcher in open court.
Thatcher sought to challenge the subpoena in court but it was upheld, although Cape High Court Judge Deon van Zyl recognised in his ruling in November that Thatcher could invoke his right to remain silent during the questioning. |
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