Zimbabwe to extradite Mann

A British man accused of masterminding a coup plot against the President of the Equatorial Guinea is to be extradited from Zimbabwe.Simon Mann, 53, was jailed in September 2004 after being convicted in Zimbabwe of illegally trying to buy weapons.He was arrested with a group of alleged mercenaries in March 2003 when their private plane landed at Harare airport.They denied plotting to topple the government of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, a small West African country led by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.Mann, serving a four-year sentence on the weapons charges, was to be released from prison this Friday on good behaviour.But magistrate Omega Mugumbate granted his extradition to Equatorial Guinea, which has the death penalty for serious crimes. Mann's lawyers are expected to launch an appeal.A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are looking into those reports and we are in contact with the Zimbabwean authorities."Former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher's son Mark became embroiled in the coup controversy when he was arrested in South Africa and accused of being involved.He later pleaded guilty in a South African court to unwittingly funding the purchase of an aircraft which was allegedly to be used by the mercenaries, but he denied any involvement in the plot.He was given a four-year suspended sentence and fined £265,000, escaping jail in a plea bargain deal.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

ITN | May 9, 2007

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