Mark Thatcher to be asked about alleged coup masterminds

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2005

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — British businessman Mark Thatcher will Friday be asked in court to shed light on the alleged masterminds of a botched coup plot in Equatorial Guinea, including oil tycoon Eli Calil and British novelist Jeffrey Archer.

The son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher has been subpoenaed by a South African court to answer questions submitted by Equatorial Guinea prosecutors about a plot to topple longtime leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

Thatcher, 51, last month pleaded guilty in a Cape Town court to violating South Africa's anti-mercenary laws and paid a hefty three million rand fine (380,000 euros/505,000 dollars) for his role in the coup plot.

According to the list of more than 40 questions sent by Malabo to Thatcher's lawyers,...