Equatorial Guinea pursues Mark Thatcher

Sir Mark Thatcher is a wanted man in Equatorial Guinea. An international arrest warrant has been issued and the oil-rich west African state intends to "pursue him to the ends of the earth". Thatcher's whereabouts are uncertain - he is thought to be living in Spain. But what is clear is that the arrest warrant is a direct result of Old Etonian Simon Mann's bid to get a lower jail sentence when he goes to court next month accused of managing the so-called "Wonga coup".

This was the abortive attempt in 2004 to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang, a dictator reputed to eat the brains (some say testicles) of his opponents, and replace him with the exiled opposition leader Severo Moto. The coup was foiled by South African intelligence.

Mann, who was extradited to EG from Zimbabwe on January 30, has been "cooperating fully" with prosecutors, according to the country's attorney-general, José Oló Obono. The former SAS officer has confessed to managing the plot on behalf of Eli Calil, a British businessman of Lebanese-Nigerian origin who Mann says was the instigator.

Thatcher admitted to a South African court in 2005 that he had 'unwittingly' played a part in the coup attempt by giving money for the purchase of a helicopter. But he has always maintained that he understood the chopper was to be used as an air ambulance. He was ordered to pay a £250,000 fine and given a four-year suspended jail term, but was allowed to leave South Africa.

"It wasn't a good decision by South Africa," said attorney-general Obono. "It does not seem right to us that after his confession he paid a fine and they let him go. We are not going to let this drop. We will pursue him wherever he is."