South African authorities detained Mark Thatcher in Cape Town on 29 August 2004, accusing the son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of contributing $275,000 to finance a coup attempt against Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. Thatcher, 51, denied the charge, and his lawyer contended the funds were invested in an air ambulance business in west Africa.
The arrest drew attention to an elite British network linked to the alleged conspiracy. Simon Mann, Thatcher's neighbor in the upscale Cape Town suburb of Constantia, had already been convicted on arms charges in Harare in connection with the same plot. Mann and 69 others, all traveling on South African passports, were detained in Zimbabwe on 7 March while allegedly en route to stage the coup. A further 15 foreigners, including eight South Africans, faced charges in Malabo. Other figures associated with the scheme included Lord Jeffrey Archer, London businessman Ely Cahlil, and David Hart.
A letter Mann smuggled out of his Zimbabwean high-security prison, written in boarding-school slang and apparently referencing Thatcher by nickname, called on associates to contribute funds. Equatorial Guinea, where large oil reserves were recently discovered, has been governed by Nguema since 1979. South Africa's Scorpions unit, which made the arrest hours before British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw landed in Cape Town, called the timing an "unfortunate coincidence."
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in August 2004, in its own words.