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Freed UK mercenary says others should face justice

British mercenary Simon Mann vowed on Wednesday to testify in court against Sir Mark Thatcher, son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and oil tycoon Eli Calil — the two men he alleges were co-conspirators in a failed attempt to take over a west African state in 2004.

Speaking as he flew back to Britain from Equatorial Guinea, Mann made clear he had no intention of drawing a line under the episode and would welcome a fresh inquiry that could lead to him giving evidence against his two old friends.

Mann warned Thatcher and Calil, who deny any involvement in the plot, that he would repeat in a British court the allegations he has made to metropolitan police detectives and in front of a judge in Equatorial Guinea that they were both key players.

“As far as I’m concerned, I am very anxious that Calil, Thatcher and one or two of the others should face justice,” Mann said. “I am very happy to restate those things in court in the UK as a witness for the prosecution.”

He added he was “happy we did not succeed [in the coup attempt] in 2004.”

After receiving a pardon on Tuesday from Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang, the former British Army officer touched down at London-Luton airport in a private Falcon 900 jet at 1:32pm on Wednesday with his brother Edward and sister Sarah.

He had served five-and-a-half years in jail, including just over a year of a 34-year jail sentence in Black Beach prison in Malabo, the country’s capital. Mann, 57, was convicted of trying to take the oil-rich country by force as part of a coup plot in March 2004.

Detectives from Scotland Yard’s counterterrorism command will interview Mann as part of an investigation into allegations that the failed plot was partly hatched in the UK.

A team of anti-terrorist officers have been investigating the claims since the end of Mann’s trial in July last year. A small team of British detectives interviewed Mann in jail over three visits last year in which Mann is understood to have cooperated fully.

A spokesman for Thatcher said he remained delighted at Mann’s release, despite the possibility Mann could now testify against him. A court date might be some way off. Anti-terrorist officers are working closely with the Crown Prosecution Service in what they say is an active criminal inquiry, but a decision on charges is not thought to be imminent and no one has been arrested or interviewed under caution as part of the investigation.

In a statement, Mann said his return was “the most wonderful homecoming I could ever have imagined.”

“I am hugely grateful to President Obiang for releasing me. It’s the best, best early Christmas present my family and I could ever have imagined. As I know you will understand I have been away for five-and-a-half tough years, much of it spent in solitary confinement. I now need time to adjust and so I would ask that you respect my privacy and that of my family during this period,” he said.

Mann has said he “felt like a guest ... and not like a prisoner” at Black Beach and there were reports he dined on wine, chicken, steak and vegetables brought in from a nearby restaurant.
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