Freed of African coup charge, British mercenary back home

London, Nov 4 : A private school-educated mercenary arrived back in Britain Wednesday after being freed by the government of Equatorial Guinea for trying to mount an armed coup that he says was backed by the son of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher among others.

Simon Mann said before leaving Equatorial Guinea that he would help British police prosecute a possible case against Sir Mark Thatcher and Ely Calil, a Lebanese-born businessman working in Britain, for the 2004 coup attempt.

"I am very anxious that Calil, Thatcher and one or two of the others, should face justice," Mann said.

Mark Thatcher, who Mann claims to have been "part of the management team", was given a suspended sentence in South Africa for his role in funding the coup.

Mann, who studied at Eton - one of the world's most exclusive and expensive private schools - returned after serving only 15 months of a 34-year jail term for trying to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of the oil-rich West African country.

The former SAS commando landed in a privately-owned Dassault Falcon 900 jet plane at Luton Airport Wednesday afternoon and is set to be interviewed by British counter terrorism officers, the online edition of The Times reported.

Although it is not clear exactly who hired him and for what reason, Mann - the son of former England cricket captain George Mann - told the BBC the US government under former president George W Bush was aware of his coup plans and gave its tacit approval if there were no bloodshed.

The plan collapsed when Mann was held along with his team of up to 70 mercenaries on an airport runway in Harare, Zimbabwe, in March 2004.

--IANS