British mercenary suspect fights extradition

The extradition trial of former British special forces officer Simon Mann, an alleged ringleader in a coup plot to overthrow the government in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, resumed in Harare, Zimbabwe, today.

Mann’s attorneys are arguing he would not get a fair hearing in the West African nation and faced execution.

However, state prosecutors said Equatorial Guinea undertook to provide an independent judge selected by the African Union and a death sentence would not applied if Mann is convicted there.

The botched plot, dubbed the “Wonga Coup” – to unseat President Teodoro Obiang Nguema – allegedly involved a number of wealthy and influential public figures in South Africa and Britain including Mark Thatcher, son of the former British prime minister.