Mercenaries' detained by Zimbabwe to face death if convicted

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 11, 2004

Mercenaries' detained by Zimbabwe to face death if convicted

Zimbabwean Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge said in Harare on Wednesday that 67 suspected mercenaries captured on Sunday are likely to face trial in Zimbabwe and could be hanged if convicted

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Zimbabwean Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge said in Harare on Wednesday that 67 suspected mercenaries captured on Sunday are likely to face trial in Zimbabwe and could be hanged if convicted

Mudenge told an urgent meeting with foreign diplomats and journalists that information gathered from the captured men so farindicated that they were on a mission to Equatorial Guinea where asecurity crackdown is underway following an attempted coup. From there, they might have gone to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for an unspecified military mission.

"It seems these were part of the 'gentlemen' in Equatorial Guinea involved in murdering and killing people in the process of changing government. One or two, we know they are mercenaries. Mercenarism is a scourge," said Mudenge.

The minister said Zimbabwe had an obligation under a 1992 protocol of the Organization of African Unity to discourage mercenary activity on the continent.

"As a signatory, we have obligations arising from there. We must use the severest punishment in our statutes, including capital punishment. We want to liaise with Equatorial Guinea and South Africa where they came from," the minister said.

Mudenge said the suspects were still being interrogated and more accurate information was still expected from them.

"We're going about this very deliberately. We give them all therights they're entitled to. If it's true that they wanted to take part in a military coup in Equatorial Guinea, it will be very sad," he said.

He would not rule out the involvement of the United States in the failed mission, saying some of those captured had been to 'many countries'. The Zimbabwean government said on Tuesday the US-registered Boeing 727-100 they were using was a US Air Force plane,which had since been sold to a company with links to the US government.

Mudenge said the coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea could be linked to a new scramble for oil, succeeding the diamond rush, which led to the death of millions of Africans.

The suspected mercenaries were arrested at the Harare International Airport on Sunday night after the crew made a false declaration, claiming that the plane was empty except for three crew and four loaders.

A search by the Zimbabwean authorities revealed that there were64 other men on board and an assortment of arms of war and military equipment.

It has since been established that the group is made up of 20 South Africans, 18 Namibians, 13 Angolans, two Congolese and a Zimbabwean with a South African passport.

The aircraft passed through Petersburg airport en-route to Harare.

Mudenge claimed that further investigations were underway and more information would be released to the public as it would become available.

Source: Xinhua

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