(TALKZIMBABWE) British gvt trying to silence Mann, says reports

British gvt trying to silence Mann, says reports
The Independent/TZG
Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:51:00 +0000

THE United Kingdom government is trying to silence Simon Mann as he seeks to spill the beans about finer details of the coup attempt that left him languishing in prisons across the African continent.

The convicted mercenary returned to Britain last week after he was pardoned by oil-rich Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema – the man he had planned to overthrow five years ago.

On his return, Mann made it clear he wanted revenge on those he believes made him the "fall guy" – notably the Lebanese millionaire, Ely Calil, and Sir Mark Thatcher, son of the former British prime minister, Margaret "The Iron Lady" Thatcher.

Mann's friends confirmed to the UK's Independent newspaper yesterday that he wants "justice" for both men – "not only for allegedly leaving him to carry the can for the disastrous coup attempt, but also for failing to look after his wife and children while he was in captivity thousands of miles away".

"Yet they also revealed that Mann has already been subjected to government pressure to keep his mouth shut." said The Independent.

The paper quotes a close friend of Mann saying, "The Foreign Office didn't do anything to help get him out of that place, but they have been very quick to try to get him to play ball now he is back.

"Simon has been told it would be in everyone's best interests if he could just draw a line under this whole thing.

"We know the Foreign Office wants to get on-side with EG [Equatorial Guinea] as quickly as possible but, frankly, it is also in their own interests for people to stop asking questions about this whole affair."

It is reported that Jack Straw, Britain's foreign secretary at the time of the attempted coup, initially denied that the UK Government knew about it in advance, but was later forced to admit that he did know.

"Whether any attempt was made to stop it, or encourage it, is not known. Mann has claimed that the UK, US, and Spanish governments all had prior knowledge," said the newspaper.

Mann is said to be pondering going public with his story – via a newspaper buy-up or, eventually, a book deal.

The "first significant questions over the credibility of the coup plot are also said to be emerging. Not least among them is whether the operation was ever a real "goer", as one critic described it: how an experienced former SAS man seriously expected to capture an entire state with just 60 men, and why stopping in Zimbabwe en route was deemed a sensible part of the strategy.

Their plane, a Boeing 727, was reportedly on the military side of the airfield, and beside it were 50 heavy machine guns, 20 light machine guns, 100 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 61 assault rifles and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition.

The Independent reports: "Inconspicuous is not a word that leaps to mind, which, in turn, suggests possible explanations. It was either a bafflingly naive diversion for a team so steeped in the ways of Africa to make. Or the conspirators thought the necessary people in Zimbabwe had been squared.

Reports in the Daily Mail claim that the call then went out for Sir Mark Thatcher to use his influence to get Mann and co liberated.

Sir Mark, the paper says, had done deals with elements in Zimbabwe, and often claimed to have considerable pull with the country's leadership. But Sir Mark – allegedly declined to help, and Mann languished in prison.

The EG government alleges that Mann, Sir Mark and others concocted their plot during meetings in London in late 2003 and early 2004. But a senior Home Office source said that, although the Metropolitan Police visited Mann at least three times in prison, and received relevant documents from the EG authorities, they were "essentially going through the motions". He added: "They are being asked to nail someone for perhaps planning an operation that in the end didn't take place. I don't see any will to ask any officer to push this too hard."

Although it remains illegal to conspire against another government while in the UK, no one has ever been prosecuted for the offence.

According to The Independent newspaper, the Met yesterday conceded that an investigation into the Mann affair was "ongoing", but refused to give further details, including the number of staff engaged in the operation.

Equatorial Guinea dropped its attempts to sue Mr Calil and Sir Mark – and British "security consultant" Greg Wales – after the case reached the House of Lords.

Any chances of getting at the truth – in court or otherwise – appear to rest with Mann alone. The mercenary claims to have the material – including details of email exchanges with Mr Calil and Sir Mark, and bank details involving front companies in the Channel Islands and elsewhere, which allegedly detail the financial preparations for the operation.

Mann, who is preparing to speak to Met officers later this month, also has a powerful incentive for revenge against his former colleagues. "He feels incredibly strongly that these people could have come to his rescue, or at least helped his family while he was in captivity." Whether he has the ammunition, or the will, to extract revenge is quite another matter.