Britain knew about plot

LONDON – The British government was given details of an alleged plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea, including the names of mercenaries and the expected date of the attack, months in advance, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

According to The Observer (London), two senior British intelligence officers were sent detailed reports in December 2003 and January 2004 by former South African special forces commander Johann Smith, who had learned of the plot. The alleged putsch was exposed in March by South African intelligence services, and scores of accused mercenaries were arrested in the oil-rich west African nation and in Zimbabwe.The newspaper said that, despite clear obligations under international law, the British government had failed to warn the government of President Teodoro Obiang.Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the House of Commons earlier this month his department had received “confidential information” about the plot in January, but could not independently verify it, and thus did not pass the information on.Britain’s Foreign Office declined to comment directly on The Observer’s report.”Ministers and officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth office acted promptly on the receipt of relevant information,” the department said in a statement.South African arms dealer Nick du Toit was last week sentenced to 34 years in prison for allegedly leading an advance team for the coup plot.Opposition figure Severo Moto, who allegedly was to have been installed as president, was sentenced in absentia to 63 years.The Observer reported that Smith heard rumours of the coup plot in November 2003 from two former members of Buffalo Battalion, a disbanded South African army unit, who told him they had been recruited by Du Toit.Smith told the newspaper he had been working as an adviser to Obiang’s regime and felt it was his duty to pass on the information.The newspaper said he sent the reports to Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, and to a senior colleague of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.According to the newspaper, his reports named several major players who were arrested in March and are now on trial for their part in the failed putsch.Smith also warned that the group had hired two commercial fishing trawlers to operate off the west African coast “to present a legitimate front for the planned militants’ action”.Straw told the Commons this month he was sceptical of the confidential information and media reports of a coup plot.”We were sceptical about the reports, as there had been a number of coup rumours in the media previously, including October 2003,” Straw said, in a written statement on November 17.”In so far as we could, given the sources of our report, we attempted to establish whether there was any more truth to this particular allegation. We took action to try to establish whether any UK companies were involved and to underline our opposition to involvement by any UK company in such activities.”As we were not able to establish any definitive evidence which could add significantly to the reports which had already appeared in the media we took no further action with other African governments.”- Nampa-APThe alleged putsch was exposed in March by South African intelligence services, and scores of accused mercenaries were arrested in the oil-rich west African nation and in Zimbabwe.The newspaper said that, despite clear obligations under international law, the British government had failed to warn the government of President Teodoro Obiang.Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the House of Commons earlier this month his department had received “confidential information” about the plot in January, but could not independently verify it, and thus did not pass the information on.Britain’s Foreign Office declined to comment directly on The Observer’s report.”Ministers and officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth office acted promptly on the receipt of relevant information,” the department said in a statement.South African arms dealer Nick du Toit was last week sentenced to 34 years in prison for allegedly leading an advance team for the coup plot.Opposition figure Severo Moto, who allegedly was to have been installed as president, was sentenced in absentia to 63 years.The Observer reported that Smith heard rumours of the coup plot in November 2003 from two former members of Buffalo Battalion, a disbanded South African army unit, who told him they had been recruited by Du Toit.Smith told the newspaper he had been working as an adviser to Obiang’s regime and felt it was his duty to pass on the information.The newspaper said he sent the reports to Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, and to a senior colleague of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.According to the newspaper, his reports named several major players who were arrested in March and are now on trial for their part in the failed putsch.Smith also warned that the group had hired two commercial fishing trawlers to operate off the west African coast “to present a legitimate front for the planned militants’ action”.Straw told the Commons this month he was sceptical of the confidential information and media reports of a coup plot.”We were sceptical about the reports, as there had been a number of coup rumours in the media previously, including October 2003,” Straw said, in a written statement on November 17.”In so far as we could, given the sources of our report, we attempted to establish whether there was any more truth to this particular allegation. We took action to try to establish whether any UK companies were involved and to underline our opposition to involvement by any UK company in such activities.”As we were not able to establish any definitive evidence which could add significantly to the reports which had already appeared in the media we took no further action with other African governments.”- Nampa-AP