Zimbabwe arrests shine light on export of mercenaries

By STEPHANIE NOLEN
Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - Page A18

JOHANNESBURG -- In South Africa, they are calling it the "rent-a-coup." The arrest 10 days ago of a planeload of men allegedly on their way to overthrow an African government has lifted the veil from one of South Africa's darker exports: mercenaries.


One of the men held in Zimbabwe is Simon Mann, a well-known character in South African intelligence and security circles. He was awaiting the plane in Harare, allegedly to load arms he bought in Zimbabwe. Mr. Mann is a British citizen, an ex-Royal Scots Guard and troop commander with the British Special Air Services. He also has a lead role in Sandline International, a murky company with oil and mining interests, and ties to U.K. intelligence services. Sandline absorbed Executive Outcomes in 1998.

Zimbabwe's Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi says Mr. Mann was offered $2.3-million and oil rights in Equatorial Guinea for the plot.

Nic du Toit, a South African, is being held in Equatorial Guinea, where he appeared on television last week, surrounded by armed guards, and confessed to plotting the coup

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