Mann 'kidnapped' in Zim
2008-02-04 13:36
London - A Briton alleged to be the mastermind behind a foiled coup in Equatorial Guinea has been "kidnapped" and his legal team has lost contact with him, says his lawyer.
Simon Mann was flown out of Zimbabwe, where he was in prison, early on Thursday after being handed over to officials from Equatorial Guinea without the knowledge of his representatives.
Andy Kerman, Mann's London-based lawyer, said: "It's the most terrible, terrible thing this, that he's been kidnapped", adding that his legal team last spoke to him last Monday.
He said: "Simon Mann has been abducted from prison in Zimbabwe and we don't know where he is. It's alleged that he has been taken to Equatorial Guinea, but we do not know if that's the case, we have had no confirmation."
Mann held with 61 others
Kerman said: "The information from the Zimbabwean authorities is thin in the extreme and is inconsistent. If it has happened it's a disgraceful conspiracy by either the Zimbabwean government or rogue elements and the government of Equatorial Guinea."
Kerman said his team was seeking further information on what had happened, but declined to give further details of the steps being taken.
Mann, a former officer in Britain's special forces, was arrested in Harare alongside 61 others in 2004.
The group was accused of stopping to pick up weapons there while on their way to Malabo to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, although Mann said they were en route to the Democratic Republic of Congo and needed the weapons for a security contract.
Mann was jailed for seven years, but the term was later reduced and he completed his sentence on arms charges last May. At the time of his deportation, he was being held on an immigration warrant.