SA ‘mercs’ questioned on return

CAPE TOWN – Less than 48 hours after returning home, two South Africans acquitted by a Zimbabwe court of weapons charges related to an alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea were being questioned by local authorities yesterday.

Harry Carlse and Lourens Horn reported to the National Prosecuting Authority in Pretoria early yesterday to answer questions about possible violations of South Africa’s anti-mercenary Foreign Military Assistance Act. “There is a strong possibility they could be charged, but this will only become clearer later in the day,” their lawyer, Alwyn Griebenow, said during a break.Makhosini Nkosi, a spokesman for the prosecuting authority, said it was too early to say what charges they could face in South Africa.”If they are to be charged, we doubt it will be today,” Nkosi said.Horn and Carlse were among 66 suspects acquitted Friday by a Zimbabwean magistrate on firearms charges.A 67th suspect, former British Special Forces operative and alleged coup leader Simon Mann, was convicted of trying to buy weapons from Zimbabwe’s state arms manufacturer and faces up to 10 years in prison.Zimbabwean prosecutors said Carlse and Horn were hired to inspect a consignment of weapons intended to be used in an alleged plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea, Africa’s third-largest oil producer.The defendants maintained the weapons were for a security job at a mining operation in war-torn eastern Congo.They were arrested in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, on March 7 before they could see the weapons.They returned to South Africa on Saturday saying they had been tortured.The 64 others acquitted of seeking to purchase weapons in Zimbabwe still face penalties for immigration and aviation violations along with the three-man crew that flew them to Harare.They remain in custody in that country.An additional 19 South Africans, Armenians and others are on trial in Equatorial Guinea, an isolated and repressive west African nation.Another suspect, a German, died in custody there after what Amnesty International says was torture.- Nampa-AP”There is a strong possibility they could be charged, but this will only become clearer later in the day,” their lawyer, Alwyn Griebenow, said during a break.Makhosini Nkosi, a spokesman for the prosecuting authority, said it was too early to say what charges they could face in South Africa.”If they are to be charged, we doubt it will be today,” Nkosi said.Horn and Carlse were among 66 suspects acquitted Friday by a Zimbabwean magistrate on firearms charges.A 67th suspect, former British Special Forces operative and alleged coup leader Simon Mann, was convicted of trying to buy weapons from Zimbabwe’s state arms manufacturer and faces up to 10 years in prison.Zimbabwean prosecutors said Carlse and Horn were hired to inspect a consignment of weapons intended to be used in an alleged plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea, Africa’s third-largest oil producer.The defendants maintained the weapons were for a security job at a mining operation in war-torn eastern Congo.They were arrested in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, on March 7 before they could see the weapons.They returned to South Africa on Saturday saying they had been tortured.The 64 others acquitted of seeking to purchase weapons in Zimbabwe still face penalties for immigration and aviation violations along with the three-man crew that flew them to Harare.They remain in custody in that country.An additional 19 South Africans, Armenians and others are on trial in Equatorial Guinea, an isolated and repressive west African nation.Another suspect, a German, died in custody there after what Amnesty International says was torture.- Nampa-AP