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| Mann sentenced for E Guinea plot | Mann sentenced for E Guinea plot |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Former British soldier Simon Mann has been sentenced to 34 years and four months in jail by an Equatorial Guinea court for his role in a 2004 coup plot. | Former British soldier Simon Mann has been sentenced to 34 years and four months in jail by an Equatorial Guinea court for his role in a 2004 coup plot. |
| The verdict followed Mann's trial in the capital Malabo last month in which he admitted conspiring to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. | The verdict followed Mann's trial in the capital Malabo last month in which he admitted conspiring to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. |
| The former special forces officer, 56, had expressed remorse, saying he was not the most senior coup plotter. | The former special forces officer, 56, had expressed remorse, saying he was not the most senior coup plotter. |
| Mann was held in 2004 with 64 others in Zimbabwe before being extradited. | Mann was held in 2004 with 64 others in Zimbabwe before being extradited. |
| He served four years in a prison in Zimbabwe for trying to purchase weapons without a licence. | He served four years in a prison in Zimbabwe for trying to purchase weapons without a licence. |
| Eleven other men, including South African arms dealer Nick Du Toit - who testified that he had been recruited by Mann - are already serving sentences in Equatorial Guinea in connection with the coup attempt. | Eleven other men, including South African arms dealer Nick Du Toit - who testified that he had been recruited by Mann - are already serving sentences in Equatorial Guinea in connection with the coup attempt. |
| Equatorial Guinea, an oil-rich former Spanish colony, has been ruled by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema since he seized power from his uncle in 1979. | Equatorial Guinea, an oil-rich former Spanish colony, has been ruled by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema since he seized power from his uncle in 1979. |
| Pardon hint | |
| Mann, wearing a grey prison uniform, stood impassively as the verdict was read out by presiding judge Carlos Mangue in the heavily-guarded courtroom in Malabo, according to Reuters news agency. | |
| During the trial, prosecutors had asked for about 31 years in prison - but in the end a three-judge panel gave him an even longer sentence. | |
| Mann's lawyer had asked for leniency, saying his client was a pawn of powerful international businessmen and saying he had been "not a co-author" of the coup plot but "an accomplice". | |
| President Nguema has not ruled out the possibility of Mann serving part of his sentence in a British jail, the BBC's West Africa correspondent Will Ross. | |
| He adds that Mann's best hope of freedom is a presidential pardon. | |
| 'Organisers' | |
| Mann has implicated Sir Mark Thatcher, son of UK former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and London-based millionaire Eli Calil as organisers of the plot. | |
| Sir Mark was fined and received a suspended sentence in South Africa in 2005 for unknowingly helping to finance the plot. He strongly denies any direct involvement. Mr Calil also denies involvement. | |
| Du Toit has said that he was told they were trying to install an exiled opposition politician, Severo Moto, as president. | |
| Mr Moto, who is currently in Spain, has denied involvement in the failed coup. |