Zim denies deal for coup plot leader’s extradition

HARARE – Zimbabwe has dismissed claims that the jailed alleged mastermind behind a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea two years ago was set to be extradited soon to the oil-rich central African country.

Simon Mann was given a seven-year jail term, later reduced to four years, on charges of breaching firearms legislation after he and 60 other men were arrested when their plane landed at Harare international airport in March 2004. The planeload of men were allegedly to pick up weapons that Zimbabwean authorities say were to be used to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema in Malabo.Equatorial Guinean prosecutor general Jose Olo Obono said Friday that Zimbabwean authorities “have told us that within two months, the extradition process (for Mann) will be in place.”Zimbabwean attorney general Sobusa Gula Ndebele told AFP however that “we signed a broad agreement with Equatorial Guinea authorities but I am not aware of the extradition arrangement.”He was referring to the agreement signed last week by himself and Obono on behalf of the two countries which sought to promote co-operation to promote justice, equality and the fight against crime.Most of the suspected mercenaries were released from a Zimbabwean prison last year, but Mann remained in a Harare jail.Eight other men are to go on trial in South Africa on the country’s tough anti-mercenary legislation introduced in 1998 to stamp out mercenary activity and shed the country’s reputation as a springboard for soldiers of fortune in coup-prone Africa.In Malabo, five of the eight South Africans convicted over the attempted coup remain in prison, including their leader Nick du Toit who is serving a 34-year jail term for attempting to overthrow Obiang, who himself came to power in a coup in 1979.- Nampa-AFPThe planeload of men were allegedly to pick up weapons that Zimbabwean authorities say were to be used to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema in Malabo.Equatorial Guinean prosecutor general Jose Olo Obono said Friday that Zimbabwean authorities “have told us that within two months, the extradition process (for Mann) will be in place.”Zimbabwean attorney general Sobusa Gula Ndebele told AFP however that “we signed a broad agreement with Equatorial Guinea authorities but I am not aware of the extradition arrangement.”He was referring to the agreement signed last week by himself and Obono on behalf of the two countries which sought to promote co-operation to promote justice, equality and the fight against crime.Most of the suspected mercenaries were released from a Zimbabwean prison last year, but Mann remained in a Harare jail.Eight other men are to go on trial in South Africa on the country’s tough anti-mercenary legislation introduced in 1998 to stamp out mercenary activity and shed the country’s reputation as a springboard for soldiers of fortune in coup-prone Africa.In Malabo, five of the eight South Africans convicted over the attempted coup remain in prison, including their leader Nick du Toit who is serving a 34-year jail term for attempting to overthrow Obiang, who himself came to power in a coup in 1979.- Nampa-AFP