By Bernardino Ndze Biyoa MALABO, June 17 (Reuters) - British mercenary Simon Mann, one of the last prominent "dogs of war" in Africa, was to go on trial on Tuesday in Equatorial Guinea accused of leading a failed 2004 coup against the oil-rich African state. Mann, an Eton-educated former special forces officer, was arrested in Zimbabwe with 70 mercenaries en route to Equatorial Guinea. Public Prosecutor Jose Olo Obono said last week Mann would go on trial on Tuesday on three main charges: crimes against the head of state, crimes against the government and crimes against the peace and independence of the state. He could face the death penalty, but Obono said it was unlikely he would seek the maximum sentence against Mann. Equatorial Guineaan President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo told Britain's Channel Four TV news that it would be up to the court to decide on Mann's punishment if he was convicted. "We've reached a conclusion that Simon Mann was used as an instrument but there were material and intellectual authors behind it that financed the operation," Obiang said. Mann, held in Malabo's notorious Black Beach prison, said in a TV interview broadcast in Britain in March that he plotted to oust Obiang, who has ruled the ex-Spanish colony since 1979. Equatorial Guinean authorities have said Mann has testified that Mark Thatcher, the son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, knew all about the scheme to topple the government of sub-Saharan Africa's third-largest oil producer. Mark Thatcher has denied any involvement in the plan. He was arrested in 2004 by South African police at his Cape Town home on suspicion of bankrolling the coup plot, and pleaded guilty under a deal with South African authorities. Mann, heir to a brewing fortune who attended Britain's exclusive Eton College, was extradited from Zimbabwe in February after serving a four-year sentence for buying weapons without a licence. Prosecutors said the arms were to be used in the coup. The arrest of Mann, who once served in Britain's elite Special Air Service (SAS) regiment, ended the career of one of the last prominent "dogs of war" still active in Africa. One of Africa's most notorious foreign mercenaries, Frenchman Bob Denard, died in October. After his army service, Mann, 55, helped found two security firms that became bywords for mercenary activity across Africa in the 1990s, Executive Outcomes and Sandline International. Mann had appealed against his extradition from Zimbabwe by arguing he would not receive a fair trial and could be tortured in Equatorial Guinea, which has faced sharp international criticism for human rights abuses. Eleven other men, including several foreigners, are already serving sentences of between 13 and 34 years in Equatorial Guinea in connection with the alleged plot. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Writing by Daniel Flynn; editing by Alistair Thomson and Tim Pearce)
Fishermen pull in nets of sardines on Scottburgh beach some 60 km (37 miles) south of Durban June 13, 2008. The east coast of South Africa is host to an annual ...
