Here it comes. Simon Mann is coming to get ‘ya’ Thatcher. Stay tuned. –Matt
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Thatcher’s son may face court over coup
PAOLA TOTARO HERALD CORRESPONDENT
November 9, 2009
LONDON: Sir Mark Thatcher, son of the former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, has revealed he became an informer for the South African Secret Service in a desperate bid to avoid being prosecuted for his role in a bungled coup in Equatorial Guinea.
In an interview granted for a book on the ”Wonga coup”, Sir Mark said he met an intelligence official from the SASS while he was under investigation by police for providing finance for the 2004 plot. He also said he had been accepted as a source for intelligence. He was arrested four days later by the Scorpions, a South African anti-corruption unit and charged under anti-mercenary laws.
The revelations, published in The Times, quote Adam Robert, an Economist journalist and author of the book.
The former SAS officer Simon Mann, who was pardoned and released from jail in Equatorial Guinea last week after being convicted of involvement in the coup plot, originally claimed that Sir Mark played a central role in the events and wants him to face justice.
During his trial last year, Mr Mann implicated Sir Mark as well as Ely Calil as financiers of the attempt to overthrow the government of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea and install the Opposition leader Severo Moto. He described Mr Calil as ”the boss of the operation”.
Scotland Yard detectives are investigating British links to the plot and Mr Mann confirmed on his return to Britain last week that he has already spoken to them during his time in jail.
”I am very happy to restate those things in court in the UK as a witness for the prosecution,” he said.
London newspapers report that the Metropolitan Police operation is being conducted under the Terrorism Act 2006, which established a new category of crime of planning acts of terrorism. It carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
British detectives are also reported to have visited Mr Mann three times last year while he was in Equatorial Guinea’s notorious Black Beach prison.
If Mr Mann was offered immunity for giving evidence against the others, this could offer a serious opportunity for prosecution.
However, Nigel Morgan, who was implicated in the coup plot and has close links to South Africa’s intelligence services, told the Observer newspaper that he doubts any further legal action will succeed.
Unnamed friends speaking on behalf of Sir Mark to the London Daily Telegraph have said that he is ”completely relaxed” about Mr Mann’s return: ”If the police had wanted to talk to Mark they know exactly where he is and he will give his complete co-operation.”
He lives most of the year in Spain but returns regularly to visit his ailing mother. He agreed to a prosecution deal in South Africa in January 2005, working out a four-year suspended jail sentence for contravening the country’s Foreign Military Assistance Act by acting ”recklessly”.
At the weekend, Mr Mann enjoyed his first days at home with his wife and family and their son, Arthur, who was born just days after he left Britain. Mr Mann had not had the chance to see the newborn before he was captured in Harare, Zimbabwe, in March 2004 and jailed for his part in the plot.
Story here.