British mercenary Simon Mann is jailed for 34 years by a court in
Equatorial Guinea for a failed coup plot in 2004.

 MALABO, EQUATORIAL GUINEA (JULY 7, 2008 ITN -
British mercenary Simon Mann was jailed on Monday (July 7) for 34
years by a court in Equatorial Guinea for a failed coup plot in 2004 in which
he said the son of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was also
involved. 
    Mann was also ordered to pay a fine and compensation to the Equatorial
Guinea state totalling around 24 million U.S. dollars. 
    The Eton-educated, 56-year-old former army special forces officer was
sentenced to a prison term of 34 years, four months and three days for
conspiring to topple President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in the small,
oil-producing West African state. 
    Mann was arrested four years ago by authorities in Zimbabwe, along with
70 mercenaries en route to Equatorial Guinea aboard a plane. Their detention
foiled the coup plan and ended the career of one of the last prominent 'dogs
of war' still active in Africa. 
    Mann's defence team can now either appeal against the sentence to
Equatorial Guinea's Supreme Court, or directly apply for a pardon to President
Obiang. 
    The mercenary was sentenced on three counts, for making attempts
against the life of Equatorial Guinea's president, against the government and
against the peace and independence of the state. 
    Mann had served a four-year sentence in Zimbabwe for illegal arms
possession after being arrested there in 2004. 
    During his trial in Malabo last month, Mann testified that the
governments of Spain and South Africa had given a "green light" to
the 2004 conspiracy, which had aimed to replace Obiang with exiled opposition
leader Severo Moto. The Spanish and South African governments have denied
Mann's allegations.  
   Mann described himself as a mere "employee" and said the real
masterminds behind the coup plot were business tycoons including London-based
Lebanese millionaire Eli Calil and former prime minister Thatcher's son
Mark.
    Both Calil and Thatcher have denied any role in the conspiracy, but
Mangue ordered the public prosecutor to seek to bring them to justice. The
prosecutor said Equatorial Guinea's government had circulated through the
international police agency Interpol an arrest request for the two men. It
would try to seek their extradition if they were detained. 
    Thatcher, arrested in 2004 in South Africa after he allegedly invested
$350,000 to buy a helicopter to be used in the 2004 coup operation, said he
thought he was funding an air ambulance service. He was freed after pleading
guilty to breaking anti-mercenary laws and he paid a $450,000 fine. 
    The long jail sentence against the self-confessed mercenary was harsher
than that originally requested by the prosecution during Mann's trial in
Malabo in June of just over 31 years.  
    Judge Mangue said the sentence was justified because of the seriousness
of the crimes and the weight of evidence. 
    Another defendant sentenced on Monday, Lebanese businessman Mohamed
Salaam, received a jail term of 18 years, while four Equatorial Guinean
nationals were given terms of six years each. Another was jailed for one year
and one other was acquitted.