Thatcher quizzed about coup plot

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BBC


Sir Mark Thatcher has appeared in court in South Africa to answer questions over his role in an alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea in West Africa.

The son of the UK's ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has admitted breaking South African anti-mercenary laws by agreeing to finance a helicopter.

However, he said he had not known it was to be used in the alleged plot.

He was given a suspended jail term and fined after agreeing a plea bargain to help investigators last month.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4275785.stm

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1. Thatcher repeats denial over funds for botched coup plot: Scotsman

SIR MARK THATCHER again insisted he had nothing to do with a botched coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea.

The businessman son of the former prime minister today answered, under oath in a South African court, a list of questions submitted by prosecutors from the oil-rich West African nation.

He agreed to answer the questions as part of his plea bargain when he admitted last month to violating South Africa’s anti-mercenary laws.

President Thodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea accuses Thatcher and other, mostly British, financiers of funding a bizarre plot to oust his regime.

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=187822005