Equatorial Guinea Prosecutor Wants Death For S. African 'mercenary'

MALABO, Aug 23 (AFP) - Equatorial Guinea's attorney general said Monday he will call for the death penalty for South African Nick Du Toit, accused of leading a group of alleged mercenaries who plotted to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
Attorney General Jose olo Obono also said at the start of the trial of Du Toit and 17 other alleged putschists that he would call for prison terms ranging from 26 years to 86 years for the South African's co-defendants.
Du Toit and 13 other suspected mercenaries from South Africa and Armenia appeared in court along with four Equatorial Guinean defendants on charges ranging from "crimes against the head of state" to "treason, illegal possession of arms and ammunition, terrorism and possessing explosives."
Reading out his preliminary conclusions to the court, Obono 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.
Obiang said in an interview published on August 1 in Paris-based Jeune Afrique l'Intelligent that none of the suspected mercenaries would be sentenced to death.