August 30
SOUTH AFRICA/EQUATORIAL GUINEA:
South African arms dealer faces death over failed coup
A South African arms dealer held in Equatorial Guinea for his part in an
alleged plot to overthrow the President of the oil-rich state will learn
today if he is to be executed.
In an interview published yesterday, Nick du Toit claimed he had talked
with Sir Mark Thatcher about buying 2 military helicopters.
Baroness Thatcher's son and other Britons are accused of plotting with
mercenaries and arms dealers to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang of
Equatorial Guinea in March. They are accused of planning to install an
opposition figure, now in exile in Spain, in his place, according to the
government and Mr Du Toit. Sir Mark was charged last week in South Africa
with financing the enterprise.
Mr Du Toit, speaking from prison in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial
Guinea, told The Mail on Sunday he was introduced to Sir Mark by Simon
Mann, another arms dealer. Mann, a former SAS officer, was convicted in
Zimbabwe last week of attempting to buy arms for the coup. The former
Etonian pleaded guilty to trying to obtain weapons.
"I met him [Sir Mark] about four times over the past seven years. The arms
dealer world is small and we all know each other. Simon told me he was one
of us.
"I had talks with Thatcher about 18 months ago when he wanted to buy two
military helicopters for the logistic support for a gold mine he said he
owns in Sudan. I had helicopters under repair in Zambia and invited them
to go there and inspect them. In the end, we didn't do a deal that often
happens in my business but Thatcher talked to me at length about arms and
protection practices in Africa."
Mr Du Toit said he never discussed the coup plot with Sir Mark, but
admitted he had met others at Johannesburg airport in South Africa last
July, the same time as the overthrow plan was being discussed.
Mr Du Toit, a former member of South Africa's special forces, said his
role in the plot would have been to set up roadblocks and enable the main
body of mercenaries to get to the presidential palace. His reward, he
said, was to be $1m (560,000) and a job as head of the newly installed
presidential guard.
But he said he received a call from Mann telling him the coup was off
while he was stationed with his men in vehicles at Malabo airport waiting
for weapons to arrive. The day after the coup was cancelled, President
Obiang arrested all foreigners and confiscated their passports.
Mr Du Toit is among 14 men currently on trial in Malabo for the attempted
coup. "We've been abandoned by all the big players behind the coup plot,"
he said.
"I've worked on missions before on a need to know where all the funds have
come from or who is involved. But there's always an understanding that if
trouble happens they will find lawyers and other help. We're in terrible
trouble and that help isn't coming," he said.
President Obiang, the ruler of a tiny country that is also one of the
largest African producers of oil, said his judges would decide the
plotters' fate. "But if I were to be the judge, I would apply the maximum
penalty execution by firing squad," he said.
The Equatorial Guinea prosecutors have asked South Africa for permission
to question Sir Mark, who denies any part in the alleged conspiracy. He
has been released on 2m rand (165,000) bail and has been banned from
leaving Cape Town.
66 men arrested with Mann during the alleged coup plot were freed after
magistrates in Harare decided the prosecution had failed to prove they had
knowingly taken part in a military mission. 2 of those men, Harry Carlse
and Lourens Horn, now claim they were tortured in prison. Horn said he was
stripped naked, beaten and threatened with electrocution during his
interrogation. Both claimed they were ill-fed and denied water.
(source: The Independent)
