The Hindu : International : Spain in African coup plot?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 17, 2004

International

International

Spain in African coup plot?

Malabo (Equatorial Guinea): Equatorial Guinea has accused Spain of trying to overthrow its Government in an alleged plot by foreign mercenaries to kill the President. In an interview with the Guardian, President Teodoro Obiang's special adviser, Miguel Mifuno, accused Madrid of sending a warship to the country with 500 marines on board. He alleged that they were to have been sent in to secure the capital after mercenaries killed the President and Ministers. ``Our intelligence sources say that the warship was going to arrive on the same date that the coup attempt was going to take place — March 8,'' he said. ``It was already in our territorial waters with 500 soldiers aboard. Meanwhile there was a team of foreign mercenaries already in Equatorial Guinea who knew where we lived. They had plans to kill 50 people and to arrest others. Spain was providing all the facilities for the coup. (The boat) was there to provide resources for the mercenaries.'' The trial of 17 alleged mercenaries arrested in Guinea, including German and South African nationals, is expected to begin in Malabo within four weeks. —

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