Britain informed of release

2009-11-03 14:51

London - Britain has been informed of the "imminent release" of mercenary Simon Mann in Equatorial Guinea, the Foreign Office said on Tuesday, after reports of an amnesty for the Briton and a South African.

"We have been informed of the imminent release of Simon Mann. We understand this was a personal decision by the president of Equatorial Guinea on humanitarian grounds," a Foreign Office spokesperson said.

Mann, an Eton-educated former member of Britain's crack SAS special forces, was sentenced to 34 years in jail in June 2008 for leading a failed coup attempt to oust Equatorial Guinea's president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

Earlier, a decree was read out on national radio declaring that a "total amnesty" was granted to Mann after considering his "state of health". He was operated on for a hernia in November 2008.

Another decree also read out cited an amnesty given to South African mercenary Nick Du Toit as well as three other people convicted in the affair.

- SAPA