Story here. (http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2004392343,00.html)

Now that is interesting! Sounds like some good story material ...

Mark at mercy of cannibal http://images.thesun.co.uk/images/trans.gif

Cannibal ... President Teodoro Obiang Nguema

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jane_says (imported) wrote: Sat Aug 28, 2004 5:03 am (http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,

31-2004392262,00.html)

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http://images.thesun.co.uk/images/trans.gif http://images.thesun.co.uk/images/trans.gif FULL NEWS INDEX (http://www.thesun.co.uk/section/0,,2,00.html) http://images.thesun.co.uk/images/trans.gif

http://images.thesun.co.uk/images/trans.gif http://images.thesun.co.uk/images/trans.gif http://images.thesun.co.uk/images/trans.gif From PAUL THOMPSON

in Cape Town and CHARLES RAE

ACCUSED Sir Mark Thatcher could face 20 years’ jail — but may be handed over to a cannibal dictator said to eat his opponents’ TESTICLES. The 51-year-old son of ex-PM Margaret Thatcher was arrested in South Africa on suspicion of bankrolling a coup in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.

Senior South African investigators alleged that he agreed to supply a helicopter gunship to a gang of mercenaries behind the plot.

If tried and convicted in South Africa, businessman Thatcher would be liable to a lengthy jail term.

But last night it was believed Equatorial Guinea may seek to extradite him — and his fate there could be far worse.

The tiny West African state has an appalling human rights record.

Prisoners are said to be routinely tortured.

And opponents of despotic President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, claim he eats the testicles of executed prisoners in the belief that it boosts his sex life.

Detectives from an elite police unit called “The Scorpions” searched Thatcher’s £2million mansion in Constantia, Cape Town, after a dawn raid yesterday.

Thatcher, who has an estimated £60million fortune, was arrested in his pyjamas as he prepared breakfast for his schoolchildren Michael and Amanda.

His wife Diane, a Texan heiress, was also at their gated mansion.

Armed bodyguards looked on helplessly as police moved in.

Thatcher had been previously named in connection with the alleged plot and was under surveillance for two weeks before yesterday’s raid.

An investigator revealed “paper and money trails” had led to him.

Police spokesman Sipho Ngwema said: “We have evidence, credible evidence, and information that he was involved in the attempted coup.

“We believe Mr Thatcher assisted in finance and logistics."

Wearing a blue blazer, blue shirt and tie, he was held in cells at Wynberg regional court prior to going before a magistrate.

He was charged with contravening the Foreign Military Assistance Act and freed on £180,000 bail until November.

Yesterday’s arrest is linked to the smashing of the Equatorial Guinea plot in March.

Old Etonian and former SAS officer Simon Mann was arrested with a plane full of mercenaries when they arrived in Zimbabwe from South Africa.

Mr Moto ... in exil in Spain

Mann, 51, an old friend and neighbour of Thatcher in Cape Town, was said to be the ringleader.

The gang allegedly hoped to kill or overthrow tyrant Obiang, then exploit oil reserves by installing their own leader Severo Moto, who is in exile in Spain.

Mann, boss of a firm called Executive Outcomes, is among 70 held in Zimbabwe.

Another 19 men are on trial in the Equatorial Guinea capital Malabo.

These include South African arms dealer Nick du Toit, another alleged key figure in the supposed plot.

He told the court yesterday of a meeting with Mark Thatcher — nicknamed “Scratcher” by some pals.

But Du Toit, who faces the death penalty, said Thatcher was only interested in buying military helicopters for a mining deal in Sudan.

Du Toit has made a confession but friends say he had been tortured for hours. Verdicts on him and the others are expected on Saturday.

Equatorial Guinea claims foreign financiers put money into the coup plan.

Among those it accuses are Thatcher and British and South African oil broker Eli Calil — a former business adviser to disgraced MP Jeffrey Archer.

Millionaire novelist Archer is being quizzed over an alleged £80,000 payment to Mann.

The sum was said to have been paid tto Mann's Guernsey-based firm in the name JH Archer - Lord Archer's initials.

Last night, lawyers for Lord Archer, recently released after being jailed for four years for perjury, "emphatically" denied he knew Mann or had any involvement in the coup.

His pal Calil is the father of former Holby City actor George Calil, whose co-star Laura Sadler plunged to her death from his London flat after taking drugs.

Obiang, a ruthless dictator who calls himself “God”, has ruled Equatorial Guinea for 25 years after seizing power by killing the former leader, who was also his uncle.