AAP

UK coup plotter leaves Equatorial Guinea

By Michelle Faul, AAP November 4, 2009, 10:45 pm

British mercenary Simon Mann, granted amnesty for a 2004 failed coup plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, on Wednesday left the west African country on a private jet, an airport official said.

"He left with members of his family around 7am (1700 AEDT)," the official told AFP.

"The plane should be going to Britain," he added but did not give details of the flight plan.

Sources had said on Tuesday that Mann, who is 57, could go to another country than Britain.

Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday pardoned and freed Mann, South African Nick du Toit and three others who were jailed for the 2004 bid to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

The British and South African mercenary leaders had been jailed for 34 years each for their role in the plot.

The former British Special Air Service officer underwent hernia surgery last year and his state of health was one of the reasons for the amnesty, national radio said, announcing a November 2 decree.

News Poll

Are Mike Pero's plans to charter a flight to Antartica disrespectful?

Are Mike Pero's plans to charter a flight to Antartica disrespectful?

Vote Now

Opinion

  • Amy Williams

    November 26, 2009, 11:35 am
    Mike Pero: good guy or evil opportunist?

    This Saturday marks thirty years since New Zealand's worst aviation disaster, when Air New Zealand Flight 901 crashed into Mt Erebus in Antarctica, killing all 257 people on...

  • Ed's View

    November 11, 2009, 11:34 am
    Is Hone Harawira a racist?

    The Oxford Dictionary defines racism as "1. Belief in the superiority of a particular race; prejudice based on this. 2. Antagonism towards people of other races."Since his expletive laced email tirade Hone Harawira has been called many...

  • Ellie Evans

    November 20, 2009, 5:47 pm
    The most shocking of tales

    Several stories this week merit a special mention in my mind-boggling news blog, but this first one will take some beating. Or shocking.A police officer called to a house in an small Arkansas town saw fit to use his Taser on the house's unruly...

  • Lou Maea

    October 13, 2009, 6:11 am
    Samoa gears up to rebuild

    The tsunami clean-up is well underway and very visible in the in the worst hit villages in the 10 kilometre strip between Lepa and Lalomanu.Each day there is a procession of large diggers, graders, power line restoration crews, trucks removing rubbish,...

Yahoo!Xtra News Preferences

Close

Select your region to see news and weather for your area.