Reply #1: Mercenary suspects charged

[seemslikeadream]

March 18, 2004


Zimbabwe has charged 70 suspected mercenaries with conspiring to murder President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea in a plot to topple the government of the oil-rich African state, their lawyer said yesterday.

The men, who have been detained since March 7 after their aircraft was impounded at Harare International Airport, had previously been charged with breaching immigration laws and trying to buy firearms.

The Foreign Minister, Stan Mudenge, said the men could face the death penalty.

The men's lawyer, Jonathan Samkange, said the new charges are derived from common law and "cannot extend beyond the boundaries of Zimbabwe".

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/17/1079199293217.html

Zimbabwe 'Mercenaries' on murder conspiracy charge

"They were charged yesterday with attempting to murder the president of Equatorial Guinea and his bodyguards. There is also some indication that they could be charged under the Public Order and Security Act ," lawyer Jonathan Samkange said.

Equatorial Guinea, sub-Saharan Africa's third largest oil producer, says it has arrested 20 men it says were part of a plot funded by foreign powers and multinational firms to put an exiled opposition politician living in Spain in power.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?section=WORLD&oid=47145