Thatcher arrested for supporting Terrorism

international | anti-capitalism | news report

Saturday August 28, 2004 21:05

by Hilaal

No , not her unfortunately

Sir Mark Thatcher, the son of former British prime minister Lady Thatcher was arrested at his house in Cape Town,South Africa and was charged under South Africa's anti-mercenary laws in connection with an alleged coup attempt in the oil-rich state of Equatorial Guinea.

Simon Mann in Zimbabwe 2004

Sir Mark "Scratcher" Thatchers friend and associate Simon Mann has just been convicted by a Zimbabwean court of attempting to buy arms for a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. When sentenced, he faces fifteen years in prison. US, British, and Spanish intelligence agencies were involved in the plot to launch a coup in oil-rich and poverty-stricken Equatorial Guniea.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=CRU3H4OQTUDF4CRBAEOCFEY?type=topNews&storyID=572895§ion=news

The son of an England cricket captain who made a fortune from the Watney's brewing empire and a former 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) terrorist in Northern Ireland, Mann now lives/lived in Cape Town where he sold computer security equipment and ran a business providing mercinaries to wealthy clients in South Africa. He administers the web site of Logo Logistics, the firm that contracted the US-registered Boeing 727-100 cargo plane to Zimbabwe last March.

http://www.sandline.com/company/index.html

As his plane sat on the runway at Harare airport , Mann watched from the main terminal. He was there to ensure the safety of the 67 mercenaries on board and to supervise the loading of a large quantity of arms, including mortars, Kalashnikovs and 30,000 rounds of ammunition. However the Zim authorities surrounded the plane and arrested the former SAS man and his merry band.

Nick du Toit, a South African soldier of fortune was soon arrested in Equatorial Guinea, Africa's third largest oil developer, with a further 15 suspected mercenaries/terrorists. He confessed to being part of the coup plot and has implicated others including....

Ely Calil, a Chelsea-based millionaire is accused by the Equatorial Guinea government of helping to organise the coup from his home in west London. During his years in London he developed links with senior Tory and Labour politicians. At one time he was financial adviser to the "Lord" Jeffrey Archer. In 1999 Peter Mandelson rented one of Calil's luxury flats in Holland Park for a year, shortly before his time as Northern Ireland secretary.

The government of Equatorial Guinea has also issued a warrant for the arrest of David Hart, a British businessman with links to the THATCHER family, and claims it has evidence to show he helped to fund the coup plot.

Hart was Maggie Thatcher's chief enforcer during the miners' strike and handed out money to strike breaking scabs. He served as a special adviser to Malcolm Rifkind and Michael Portillo under Tory governments. Hart is known to have excellent access to the US administration and worked closely with the former CIA director William Casey in the early and mid-1980s.

"Sir Scratcher" Thatcher is currently on bail but has made complaints to the South African Police Service that while in custody his expensive watch, jacket and shoes were taken from him by fellow prisoners. On the up side, the complaint for which he is know as, "Sacratcher", his incessant sniffing and rubbing of his nose , seems to have cleared right up during his time in prison. There's no business like Snow business, eh Mark?