Thatcher’s Son Pleads Guilty, Is Fined in Coup Case

The son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher flew out of South Africa on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to charges relating to a coup attempt in the small, oil-rich African country of Equatorial Guinea.

Mark Thatcher, a businessman, denied any knowledge of, or participation in planning, the coup against the government of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, but admitted he had suspicions that associates may have been plotting mercenary activities. He could still face problems if Equatorial Guinea seeks his extradition.

Thatcher was fined 3 million rand, about $500,000, and given a four-year suspended sentence. He also promised to cooperate with South African authorities in their investigation of the coup attempt.

After months on bail with his passport confiscated, Thatcher flew out of Cape Town on a flight to London and was expected to rejoin his wife, Texas-born Diane Burgdorf, and two children in the United States.

Thatcher is due in a South African court next month to answer questions from Equatorial Guinea. He has asserted a right to remain silent in previous hearings, arguing that answering questions could prejudice a trial in South Africa or Equatorial Guinea.

It is not known whether Equatorial Guinea will seek to extradite Thatcher.

President Obiang has ruled Africa’s third-largest oil producer for 25 years. Authorities there accused exiled opposition figure Severo Moto, head of the Progress Party, of plotting to kill the president and take power last year.

Thatcher, 51, was charged in August with breaches of South Africa’s law against mercenaries. The law was established several years ago because of concerns about organizations such as Executive Outcomes, a defunct security firm led by Simon Mann, a friend of Thatcher’s.

Mann, a former British special forces officer, is accused by authorities in Equatorial Guinea of being one of the leaders of the failed coup and has been convicted and jailed in Zimbabwe for illegally buying arms. Mann’s lawyer said Thursday that he expected Mann’s seven-year sentence to be reduced to four years.

Thatcher, who has lived in a Cape Town suburb since the mid-1990s, was charged because he chartered a helicopter at Mann’s request. Thatcher admitted paying $275,000 to rent the craft but said he believed it would be used as an ambulance. He admitted that he was negligent for failing to check the helicopter’s intended use.

According to the statement Thatcher made as part of the plea bargain, Mann said he was starting a transport business in West Africa. Thatcher said that after he became involved in the deal, he began to suspect that Mann might be planning mercenary activity.

“There is no price too high for me to be reunited with my family, and I am sure all of you who are husbands and fathers would agree with that,” Thatcher said in a prepared statement given to the news media.

Margaret Thatcher told Britain’s Press Assn. that she was happy with the outcome. “This has been a difficult time for all of the family; obviously I am delighted that it has been brought to an end.” She said it was important that her son rejoin his family in the United States as soon as possible.

The coup attempt came to light in March with the arrest in Zimbabwe of 64 suspected mercenaries, after they landed on a plane en route from South Africa to Equatorial Guinea. They said they were going to provide security for a gold mine in Congo. They and Mann were arrested, charged and convicted, with most receiving 12-month sentences.

Another group was arrested in Equatorial Guinea, where 14 men, including Nick du Toit, another alleged ringleader, were sentenced last year to 14 to 34 years in prison. Moto, the Progress Party leader who lives in Spain, was convicted in his absence and sentenced to 63 years. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Du Toit and Moto.