EG: Du Toit recruited for coup

2004-08-23 20:06

Rodrigo Angue Nguema

Malabo - Alleged mercenary leader Nick du Toit told a court here on Monday that he had recruited personnel and taken charge of logistics for an attempted coup bid in Equatorial Guinea.

The South African's admission came on the first day of his trial in the capital of the small central African state with 17 other alleged putschists, who have been charged with plotting to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

"I wasn't part of the operational group because my task was logistics, that's to say getting vehicles" to the airport, Du Toit said when he was returned to the courtroom on his own after an adjournment.

Questioned by Attorney General Jose Olo Obono, the South African said he had accepted the job at the request of Simon Mann, the alleged leader of 70 other suspected mercenaries arrested in Zimbabwe.

This group was allegedly due to join those in Equatorial Guinea to carry out the coup against the man who has run the country with his family and close aides since 1979.

Death penalty

The state prosecutor announced that he sought a death penalty for Du Toit and prison terms ranging from 26 years to 86 years for the South African's co-defendants.

Du Toit appeared along with seven other South Africans, six Armenians and four Equatorial Guineans, including former deputy economic planning minister Antonio Javier Nguema Nchama, on charges ranging from "crimes against the head of state" to treason and terrorism.

Obono read out the state's summary of the alleged coup plot, outlining the role of each of the accused in it.

He also cited the names of exiled opposition leader Severo Moto, accused of masterminding the coup, and British businessmen Elie Khalil, Greg Wales and David Hurt, alleged paymasters of the would-be putschists, but did not say what sentences they faced if found guilty.

Spain refused to extradite Moto, leading Malabo to recall its ambassador to Madrid in July and threaten to break off diplomatic relations. The envoy returned to his post on August 14 after a Spanish parliamentary delegation visited Malabo.

Seven years

Du Toit's lawyer, Fernando Mico, called for seven years' prison for his client, saying: "There was no conspiracy given that no weapons were found in their possession."

Laywer Polciano Mbomio, pleading on behalf of the six Armenian defendants, asked for charges against them to be dropped, and called Obono's summary "narrative fiction."

All 18 suspects are charged with "crimes against the head of state, against the form of government... crimes which compromise peace and independence of the state, treason, illegal possession of arms and ammunition, terrorism and possessing explosives."

The four Equato-Guineans had not been implicated in the alleged coup plot until the court case got under way on Monday.

Obiang announced the arrests of the alleged mercenaries in early March, saying they had been hired by exiled opposition leader Moto to oust him.

- AFP