Witness Against Thatcher’s Son Recants

By RODRIGO ANGUE NGEUMA MBA
.c The Associated Press

MALABO, Equatorial Guinea (AP) – The prime witness in an alleged coup
plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea repudiated his confession Tuesday,
saying it was coerced by interrogators who threatened him with death.

Equatorial Guinea now intends to seek the extradition of the most
prominent figure in the case – Mark Thatcher, the 51-year-old son of
former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a legal official
close to the prosecution told The Associated Press.

Thatcher is charged as an alleged bankroller in the plot, defense
attorney Fabian Nsue Nguema told reporters.

However, no new charges were announced in court Tuesday, when the coup
trial resumed after a two-month break. Thatcher’s lawyer maintains his
innocence.

Equatorial Guinea already has charged 19 Africans and Armenians as
alleged mercenaries in the purported conspiracy to overthrow the
regime of President Teodoro Obiang. The government claims Thatcher and
other, mostly British financiers intended to install an exiled
opposition figure, Severo Moto, as the figurehead leader of Africa’s
No. 3 oil-producing nation.

Attorney General Jose Olo Obono closed arguments Tuesday by renewing
his request for the death penalty against his own top witness, South
African arms dealer Nick du Toit.

Du Toit is accused of leading an advance team for the alleged plot,
foiled in March when South African intelligence exposed the alleged
conspiracy, leading to the arrests of scores of suspected mercenaries
here and at a stopover point in Zimbabwe.

Former British special forces member Simon Mann – accused by
Equatorial Guinea of being a go-between connecting bankrollers to
mercenaries – was convicted by Zimbabwe in September with 67 others on
weapons and other charges.

Du Toit, testifying in shackles throughout the trial, has outlined
alleged details of the plot and meetings with Mann, Thatcher and
others.

He has insisted his 18 co-defendants here knew nothing of any plot.

On Tuesday, he testified his confession was coerced.

Police interrogators “threatened to kill me if I did not maintain the
account of attempted coup d’etat,” du Toit said.

“If anyone has evidence of a coup attempt, they should show the
evidence,” du Toit added.

His co-defendants, all of whom denied knowledge of a plot, showed the
court what they said were scars of torture when the trial opened in
August.

Thatcher was arrested at his home in South Africa in August as the
trial was in its first weeks. Prosecutors suspended it soon after,
saying they wanted to review emerging evidence that linked Thatcher
and others to the case.

Information Minister Alfonso Nsue Mokuy referred questions about new
charges or Thatcher’s extradition to Obono, the attorney
general. Calls to Obono’s phone went unanswered.

Thatcher attorney Allan Bruce Brand in Cape Town, South Africa,
declined comment.

Equatorial Guinea’s legal team claims it has evidence connecting
Thatcher to the alleged plot, including an aircraft leased by a
company in which he allegedly had a joint venture.

The aircraft was used to fly Moto and some financiers from the Canary
Islands to Bamako, Mali, on March 7, allegedly positioning them for
the coup, the legal official close to the government said.

Seven other people besides Thatcher have been newly charged, Nguema
told reporters. He said they include exiled opposition figures.

Associated Press writers Ellen Knickmeyer and Nafi Diouf in Dakar,
Senegal, and Terry Leonard in Johannesburg, South Africa, contributed
to this report.

11/16/04 15:25 EST