Mann's claims 'preposterous'

2008-03-12 15:24

Pretoria - South Africa has rejected "with contempt" claims by jailed British mercenary Simon Mann that it backed his plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea.

"Simon Mann's claims are as preposterous as they are laughable. Accordingly they must be rejected with the contempt they deserve," Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said on Wednesday.

The Associated Press reported that Mann told Britain's Channel 4 News that he received indications of support from South Africa and Spain for his plans to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema's government.

"We went ahead because the other indications I was getting... from the Spanish government and from the South African government, and this case most especially the South African government, was that: 'We want you to go, so go'," he said.

Mamoepa said South Africa was a signatory of both African Union and United Nations conventions prohibiting support for mercenary activities and unconstitutional transfers of power.

"Simon Mann must me be man enough to bear the consequences of his own actions," Mamoepa said.

Mann was arrested with 70 others, mostly former soldiers, when their plane arrived in Zimbabwe from South Africa to collect weapons bought from the Zimbabwean state arms maker in 2004.

Earlier this year, he was extradited to Equatorial Guinea, where he was convicted in absentia in November 2004.

He was accused of planning to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea by leading a mercenary force into the capital Malabo in an effort to kidnap or kill the president.

- SAPA