Zim to hand over suspects
2004-04-29 12:20
Bulawayo - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has agreed to extradite to Equatorial Guinea 70 men accused of plotting a coup against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, an official said on Thursday.
The decision was taken following talks between Mugabe and Obiang in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo, said the official who asked not to be named.
"The president agreed to extradite the 70 mercenaries so that they could go and face trial in Equatorial Guinea," he said.
The 70 men, all of whom were travelling on South African passports, were detained on March 7 at Harare International Airport when their Boeing 727 stopped to refuel and pick up military equipment.
The Zimbabwe authorities arrested the men, claiming they were on their way to join 15 suspected mercenaries arrested in Equatorial Guinea on similar charges of plotting to overthrow the government of the tiny central African nation, which is wedged between Cameroon and Gabon on the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea.
The men claim they were hired to provide security for a mining company in the DRC.