Mann points finger at ‘Smelly’

Simon Mann, the old Etonian mercenary currently on trial for his involvement in a botched coup to overthrow the president of the oil-rich West African state Equatorial Guinea, tuned his attention to the London-based, Lebanese businessman Eli Calil yesterday. Mann, who is trying to avoid a hefty jail sentence by pointing the finger at others - he claims only to be a bit-part player and has already disputed Sir Mark Thatcher's pleas of innocence - said that Calil was the "real leader" behind the plot, and that he had not given up hopes of effecting a regime change in the country.

Said Mann of Calil, who he calls "Smelly": "There is a group of people around Calil... very powerful. Although I don't know their identities I know they exist... I'm quite sure they are not going to give up."

According to Mann, Calil, 62, who is said to have bankrolled the plot to secure oil mining rights in the country, had hoped to become the right-hand man of Severo Moto, the exiled opposition leader he proposed installing as the new head of state. Despite repeated requests for extradition by the Equatorial Guinea government, he is still at large, living and working quietly in London (he has a £15m Palladian home in Chelsea), and still maintains his innocence.

When the coup first came to light much was made of the fact that Calil knew Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner. It was Calil who offered his west London flat to Mandelson when the then Northern Ireland secretary was embroiled in the scandal over an undisclosed loan from fellow minister Geoffrey Robinson. Mandelson denied the allegation made at the time that his landlord had sounded him out over the coup plot. However, a report in the hands of the South African authorities had claimed: "Calil says that Mandelson assured him he would get no problems from the British government side" and invited Calil to come and see him again "if you need something done".

The report was written by Nigel Morgan, a security consultant and former member of the Centre for Policy Studies. Of Calil, he said: "He was small and quite worn, looking tired and hunted. He had that swarthy Levantine look." He added that Calil had no evident sense of humour. "His friends never called him Smelly to his face."