EQUIPO NIZKOR |
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18nov04
Mercenaries turn against Thatcher.
Three South African men pleaded guilty to mercenary activities yesterday and agreed to testify against Mark Thatcher who is charged with bankrolling an alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea, their lawyer said.
Lourens Horn, Harry Carlse and Crause Steyl paid hefty fines and were released under a plea bargain agreement with state prosecutors that also provides for their witness testimony at the trial of the son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
Thatcher was arrested in August at his luxury home in Cape Town for allegedly contributing $275,000 (BD103,950) to help finance the plot in Equatorial Guinea to topple longtime leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
He is due to appear in court next Thursday to answer charges that he violated the Foreign Military Assistance Act which bans citizens and residents of South Africa from engaging in mercenary activities.
Horn and Carlse were arrested in Zimbabwe in March at Harare airport when a plane carrying scores of other suspected mercenaries made a stopover to pick up weapons that Zimbabwe alleged were to be used in the coup in Malabo.
[Source: Gulf Daily News, Bahrain, 18Nov04]
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