Sir Mark Thatcher could face extradition attempt over failed African coup

Sir Mark Thatcher has been dramatically named in court as one of the architects of a plot to seize control of an oil-rich African state.

Former SAS officer Simon Mann said Lady Thatcher's son was part of a four-man 'board of management' behind the plan to grab power in Equatorial Guinea in 2004.

Now authorities there say they plan to seek the extradition of the former Premier's son.

Old Etonian Mann, testifying in public for the first time since the coup attempt was thwarted in 2004, said Sir Mark should be alongside him in the dock in the country's capital, Malabo.

Sir Mark, who was living near Mann in South Africa at the time, has admitted giving him money, but said he thought it was to buy an air ambulance helicopter.

But Mann said Sir Mark invested almost £200,000 in the full knowledge of every aspect of the coup plan, which involved landing a planeload of 80 heavily-armed mercenaries, killing President Teodoro Obiang and replacing him with an exiled opposition leader.

He said Sir Mark even flew to London to discuss the strategy with other prominent plotters in 2003.

Mann, 56, who would have led the assault but was arrested as he tried to buy arms in Zimbabwe, is facing 32 years in jail for crimes against the Equatorial Guinea leadership and state.

Accusation: Simon Mann addresses the special court this afternoon

He said of Sir Mark: 'He put in about $350,000 and became much more than an investor. He was one of my bosses  -  part of a group of four who administered the coup.

'Thatcher's money paid for the helicopter and it paid for the King Air (an aircraft to be used to fly in the puppet president after the coup). He contributed a lot of money  -  and was fully on board.'

Mann named Eli Calil, a UKbased Lebanese billionaire who made his fortune from oil and mineral deals in Nigeria, as another man behind the coup plot. He expressed bitterness that his 'bosses' had escaped justice.

He said: 'I think the people who were seriously involved should be here now. I have been in prison for four years. I'm not the same man as I was then. I think they should all also face justice.'

Facing jail: Simon Mann in the Tempory court room set up to put him on trial over a failed coup attempt

In 2004 Sir Mark was accused of involvement in the plot under South Africa's tough anti-mercenary laws. He originally defended the deal as a legitimate venture, but in the course of a pleabargain deal admitted he had suspected mercenary activity.

Jack Straw has already admitted in parliament that the UK was aware of the coup attempt

In court, Sir Mark admitted 'unwittingly' funding the coup attempt and was given a four-year suspended sentence, fined £265,000  -  reportedly paid by his mother  -  and ordered to leave South Africa.

Speaking after yesterday's hearing, Equatorial Guinea's public prosecutor, Jose Olo Obono, said the next step would be to seek the extradition of Sir Mark and Calil.

Under the coup plan, Mann, who became a 'soldier of fortune' after serving with the SAS in Iraq and Belfast, would have earned £10million and his backers would have a share of Equatorial Guinea's vast oil deposits  -  the thirdbiggest in Africa.

Instead, Mann spent four years in jail in Zimbabwe before being extradited to Equatorial Guinea earlier this year.

Yesterday Mann, the son of an England cricket captain, told the three-man panel of judges that the plot had been approved by the Spanish and South African governments and the CIA in the U.S.

Jack Straw, the then Foreign Secretary, has already confirmed in parliament that the UK was 'aware' of the coup attempt.

Mann said Calil told him the coup plotters had been promised immediate diplomatic recognition by the centre-Right Spanish government of Jose Maria Aznar if they succeeded in replacing Obiang with opposition leader Severo Moto.

Spain had also promised to send a contingent of Civil Guards.

Timeline of events

Mann said the plotters had rushed to try to carry out the coup before March 14, 2004, the date of a Spanish general election which they feared Aznar would lose  -  as he did.

'Everything was in a big hurry,' he added.

Mann was originally facing the death penalty, but this was commuted to a term in jail at the start of the trial.

Yesterday he was asked by prosecutors whether he accepted that he would have to serve 32 years in the notorious Black Beach prison, where torture and abuse are rife. In a rare show of emotion, he exclaimed: 'No! I don't accept that. Please!'