Suspect tells court of coup plot in Equatorial Guinea

By Reuters and The Associated Press

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Nick du Toit is accused along with seven South Africans, six Armenians and four Equatorial Guineans, of paving the way for the arrival of a plane carrying 70 suspected mercenaries — now being held in Zimbabwe — and a stash of weapons.

He was arrested in the capital Malabo in March.

"I was told the people behind this were financial people and they wanted to institute Severo Moto as head of government. Whether he was behind it I don't know," du Toit, his hands and feet shackled, told the court.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has said foreign countries and companies were conspiring to replace him with opposition politician Severo Moto, who heads a government-in-exile in Spain.

Obiang has ruled the former Spanish colony, split between volcanic islands and a mountainous jungle mainland, since he seized power from his uncle in 1979 and had him executed.

Seventy other accused mercenaries are on trial separately in Zimbabwe, where they were arrested March 6 as they allegedly readied to board a leased aircraft to launch the coup in Equatorial Guinea.

One defendant, a German, died in prison in Equatorial Guinea after what Amnesty International said was suspected torture.

Equatorial Guinea, pumping 350,000 barrels of oil daily, has shot to Africa's number three oil producer since offshore development began here in the mid-1990s.

Oil has made the nation of a half million citizens the fastest-growing economy in the world, with annual growth rates of up to 60 percent.

Global Witness said 25-year ruler Obiang, accused by the U.S. State Department of routine torture and other rights abuses, has siphoned off the majority of Equatorial Guinea's hundreds of millions of dollars in oil profits.
 
Equatorial Guinea has accused British and South African oil broker Eli Calil and other foreign financiers of funding the attempt. Obiang has also accused Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister, but Thatcher's name has not come up in court.

Lawyers for both men say they're innocent.

Du Toit said he met with Simon Mann, the leader of the second group of men being held in Zimbabwe, to discuss buying weapons in the former British colony.

"He has recognized that he was told a coup was under preparation and he was asked for his participation in three concrete matters," du Toit's lawyer Fernando Mico told Reuters.

"One, recruiting personnel. Two, buying weapons. Three, providing logistical means to go from the airport to the city."

Du Toit's wife, Belinda, in court alongside observers from countries including the United States, France and Spain, said she had seen evidence of torture when she visited him in July.