Thatcher in coup plot plea bargain - report

Mark Thatcher, accused of bankrolling a coup plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, is expected in a South African court tomorrow amid reports of a plea bargain deal.

Sipho Ngwema, spokesman for the national prosecuting authority, refused to disclose the reason for the appearance.

The son of former British Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher was not previously expected back in the Cape Town court until February 18.

Thatcher, who has lived in South Africa since 1995, was arrested at his Cape Town home last August and charged with violating this country’s anti-mercenary laws.

He also faces charges in Equatorial Guinea, where 19 other defendants are already on trial in connection with an alleged plot last year to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled Africa’s third-largest oil producer for the past 25 years.

Officials there have said they will seek Thatcher’s extradition from South Africa.

Equatorial Guinea alleges Thatcher and other mainly British financiers worked with the tiny country’s opposition figures, scores of African mercenaries and six Armenian pilots in a takeover attempt foiled in March. Thatcher maintains he played no part in the alleged conspiracy.

A high court in South Africa ordered Thatcher to answer questions submitted by Equatorial Guinea under oath in November, but that appearance was postponed until February 18 to give his lawyers a chance to appeal the ruling.

Thatcher’s trial on charges of helping to finance the alleged plot was postponed until April 8 for further investigation.