Mann 'hired as bodyguard'
2008-03-16 21:52
London - A British mercenary accused of plotting to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea said he and his 80-member team were hired to be bodyguards for a new president - not to fight.
Former British army officer Simon Mann, who is awaiting trial in the west African country's notorious Black Beach prison, told Britain's Mail on Sunday newspaper in an interview that he was hired only to provide security for rebel leader Severo Moto.
Mann said Moto's supporters were supposed to secure the city and arrest President Teodoro Obiang Ngeuma.
"We expected to land and shake hands, not fight. How did anyone ever imagine that 80 men and me were just going to rock up here at an international airport with brand new weapons and equipment that hadn't been tested and miraculously organise a takeover of a country?" Mann was quoted as saying.
He was arrested with 70 others when their plane arrived in Zimbabwe to collect weapons bought from Zimbabwe's state arms manufacturer in 2004.
They were found with uniforms identical to Obiang's presidential guard.
Not
that stupid
He said as a member of the British army's elite Special Air Service he had learned that to provide security for a very, very important person you need 80 people - 40 on duty and 40 off duty.
"For however brave people think I am, I am not that brave - or stupid.
"We were simply going to be Moto's bodyguard," he was quoted as saying.
"That's why there were 80 of us," he said.
Mann said money had provided some motivation for the plotters, but that his primary goal was to help the people of Equatorial Guinea.
- AP