I felt like a guest - Mann
2009-11-04 13:22
London - British mercenary Simon Mann said he felt more like a guest than a prisoner in the Equatorial Guinea jail from where he has just been freed, he said in comments published on Wednesday.
Mann, who left the African country on a private jet a day after his release, thanked President Teodoro Obiang Nguema for his pardon over a foiled coup plot in 2004.
"I have felt like a guest here and not like a prisoner," he was quoted as saying by Britain's Guardian daily after the pardoning ceremony on Tuesday in Malabo, the capital of the small, oil-rich West African nation.
"I have been well treated throughout. I was able to do exercises every morning in my cell, which is why I look fit. The worst thing has been to be away from my wife and children," he added.
Very grateful
And he said: "I am very grateful to President Obiang, who has been very generous and I am glad that what we tried in 2004 did not succeed."
Mann and four South African mercenaries were given 24 hours to leave the country after being pardoned by Obiang Nguema, who has ruled over Equatorial Guinea since 1979.
The British and South African mercenary leaders were jailed for 34 years each for their role in a plot to oust Obiang Nguema as head of the former Spanish colony in the Gulf of Guinea.
Mann left Malabo on a private jet with members of his family early on Wednesday, according to an airport official, adding that "the plane should be going to Britain".
Sources had said on Tuesday that Mann, who is 57, could go to another country than Britain.