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34-year jail term for UK mercenary Mann

07/07/2008

A former SAS officer turned mercenary has been jailed for 34 years over a failed coup in Equatorial Guinea.

The Reuters news agency reports Simon Mann's sentence is three years longer than the 31 demanded by prosecutors.

During his trial last month Mann, 56, admitted involvement in a failed 2004 attempt to overthrow president Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled the African country for almost three decades.

But Mann denied being the ringleader of the plot against the oil-rich country's head of state, pointing to a number of high-profile Britons – including Mark Thatcher, the son of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher – as his paymasters.

Mr Thatcher has however refuted Eton-educated Mann's claims and denied any involvement in the failed coup.

Appearing alongside Mann, who has been handed a $24 million (£12 million) fine in court were Lebanese businessman Mohamed Salaam, who was jailed for 18 years, while four other men were sentenced to six years in prison.

Another Lebanese national, London-based millionaire Eli Calil, was also implicated in Mann's testimony, and both he and Mr Thatcher could find themselves facing extradition requests from prosecutors in Malabo.