Simon Mann could be returned to UK

Simon Mann, the British mercenary being held at the notorious Black Beach prison in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, could be repatriated to serve out his 34-year sentence in a British jail, if Scotland Yard can reach a deal with the authorities in the West African state.

Mann, an Old Etonian and former SAS officer, was jailed last July after admitting his part in a failed coup to overthrow the state's much-feared dictator, President Teodore Obiang, in 2004.

The reason why London detectives want Mann back is because he might be needed to appear as a witness in a trial of Sir Mark Thatcher and the Lebanese-born businessman Ely Calil - both of whom, according to Mann, hatched the 2004 plot to overthrow Obiang and hired Mann and his team to do the job. If it can be proved that the plot was hatched in London - as Mann contends - then that would be an offence under the UK's Terrorism Act of 2002.

According to a report in the Mail on Sunday, Mann is "desperate" to give evidence against the two men. Scotland Yard have already questioned Calil under caution: he is reported to have admitted that he supported "regime change" in Equatorial Guinea and even financed plans by the exiled president Severo Moto to return to power, but said categorically: "I am not a coup planner".

Thatcher, son of the former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, has always denied the allegation. When he was arrested in South Africa after allegedly investing £175,000 to buy a helicopter for use in Mann's operation, he claimed he was under the impression that he was funding an air ambulance.