Simon Mann was part of a group of plotters planning to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea before the Mugabe regime caught them and handed them over. He had been sentenced to 34 years, with a £12 million fine, and has been released apparently on "humanitarian grounds".
It's a shame the coup hadn't succeeded. Equatorial Guinea is an appalling dictatorship. Its current leader is only good by comparison to his insane drug addled uncle, and there is little doubt its enormous oil riches are being pocketed by the President and his family.
UPDATE: Simon Mann is a two-faced prick, demanding his co-conspirators face "justice". He may have promised the regime to wage war against them, but to now be actively assisting for their arrest is just vile. Sir Mark Thatcher and Ely Calil are now under investigation in the UK under the Terrorism Act after the dictatorship sent a dossier from Malabo. Mann is assisting Scotland Yard. In other words, legislation designed to protect the UK may be used to protect a kleptocratic dictatorship instead.
Simon Mann. I'm glad you weren't killed, but now, you can go to hell.
It's a shame the coup hadn't succeeded. Equatorial Guinea is an appalling dictatorship. Its current leader is only good by comparison to his insane drug addled uncle, and there is little doubt its enormous oil riches are being pocketed by the President and his family.
UPDATE: Simon Mann is a two-faced prick, demanding his co-conspirators face "justice". He may have promised the regime to wage war against them, but to now be actively assisting for their arrest is just vile. Sir Mark Thatcher and Ely Calil are now under investigation in the UK under the Terrorism Act after the dictatorship sent a dossier from Malabo. Mann is assisting Scotland Yard. In other words, legislation designed to protect the UK may be used to protect a kleptocratic dictatorship instead.
Simon Mann. I'm glad you weren't killed, but now, you can go to hell.
2 comments:
LS, I'm still in touch with some people from my old Regiment and believe me, this is a dirty, murky story.
The only reason the Mugabe regime double-crossed the Brits who organised the whole thing (and the F.O. was well aware of what was going down) was that Mugabe upped the price of his co-operation at the last minute and the guy financing it balked.
The original idea was to install a Western friendly puppet in order to stall the Chinese bid for the oil--my guess is they simply outbid the plotters.
Now watch for China's move, in less than twelve months.
KG, damned interesting stuff. I am not surprised at the idea, Equatorial Guinea is ripe for the plucking, I'd expect the Obiang clan should surely be able to be bought out in favour of a life of leisure based in Hong Kong or elsewhere (although the colonial language in Eq.G is Spanish). It would be a catastrophe if China took it, but Mugabe has long had a warm relationship with China.
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