Briton Simon Mann goes on trial over EGuinea coup plot

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

MALABO, June 17, 2008 (AFP) — The trial of British mercenary Simon Mann, accused of plotting to oust the president of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea in a 2004 coup attempt, opened Tuesday in the capital Malabo.

Mann arrived at the court in an armoured van amid tight security for his trial on charges of conspiring against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, which could carry the death penalty or a 30-year jail term.

Other well-connected Britons such as Mark Thatcher, the son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and London-based millionaire businessman Ely Calil, have been linked to the failed coup bid.

Mann -- the heir to a brewing fortune who was educated at Eton and served in Britain's Special Air Services (SAS) after training at the prestigious...