Zimbabwe says West behind plot to topple Equatorial Guinea
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Threatening to execute about 60 suspected mercenaries detained this week, Zimbabwe accused US, British, and Spanish spy agencies yesterday of involvement in a plot to topple Equatorial Guinea's government.
Equatorial Guinea, which has arrested what it called an advance party of 15 mercenaries, said "enemy powers" and multinational companies had been plotting against the small oil-producing central African state.
The two countries, about 2,000 miles apart, have put their security forces on high alert since Zimbabwe detained a
Associates of the men say they are innocent mine guards swept up in a bizarre misunderstanding.
"They are going to face the severest punishment available in our statutes, including capital punishment. We will give them all the rights they are entitled to," Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge of Zimbabwe told a news briefing.
"They were aided by the British secret service, that is MI6, [the] American Central Intelligence Agency, and the Spanish secret service," Kembo Mohadi, Zimbabwe's home affairs minister, told a news conference.
Mohadi, whose country has been bitterly at odds in recent years with Washington and Britain, the former colonial power, said Equatorial Guinea's police and army heads had gone along with the plot against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
The CIA declined to comment on Zimbabwe's spying charge, but US officials denied the allegation.
"There was no US interest or involvement in such a plot," said one American official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Spain also denied involvement in any plot in the former Spanish colony.
A British Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "I have no information on whether any security services were involved at all. But we certainly wouldn't comment on our security services anyway."
Zimbabwe's state television showed a cargo of what it called "military material" aboard the plane, seized Sunday after flying into Harare from South Africa. The gear included camouflage uniforms, sleeping bags, compasses, and wire cutters, but no guns.
Officials said the suspects were expected in court yesterday or today.
Obiang said late Tuesday that foreign countries had conspired to overthrow him and replace him with an exiled politician living in Spain. He did not identify any of the countries or companies but thanked South Africa and Angola for warning him of a plot.
The plane's operator, based in Britain's Channel Islands, said the seized aircraft, sold by a firm in the United States a week ago, had been flying security men from South Africa to guard mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It declined to name the customers for whom it was acting.
