Sir Mark Thatcher today admitted bankrolling a coup plot in oil-rich
Equatorial Guinea in a plea bargain deal which allows him to avoid
jail. Margaret Thatcher's businessman son appeared in court in South
Africa where he agreed to pay a 270,000 (3 million rand) fine in
return for his freedom. Thatcher admits he paid for a military
helicopter used by mercenaries in the alleged coup plot but claims he
believed it was to be used as an air ambulance for humanitarian
purposes, according to a source close to his family. He pleaded guilty
today in the Cape High Court to breaching section two of South Africa's
anti-mercenary Foreign Military Assistance Act. Judge Abe Motala said
that if he failed to pay the fine, he would face a five-year prison
sentence with a further four years suspended for five years. Thatcher,
who has lived in South Africa since 1995, was said to be relieved at
the outcome. Details of the plea bargain deal, which means Thatcher can
join his family in the US, first emerged last night. [more]
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