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Margaret thatcher son arrested on Guinea coup plot Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=aufbELtyBtXM&refer=europe http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=aufbELtyBtXM&refer=europe Margaret Thatcher's Son Arrested on E. Guinea Coup Plot Charges Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Mark Thatcher, the son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, was arrested by South African police in Cape Town on allegations he was involved in a planned coup in Equatorial Guinea. Thatcher, 51, will appear in court later today, said Sipho Ngwema, a spokesman for South Africa's investigative police unit, known as the Scorpions, which made the arrest. Police officers are completing a search of Thatcher's house, he said. Thatcher lives in the suburb of Constantia. The British High Commission said it had been advised of his arrest. Thatcher, who was inside his house with investigators, couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Arthur James, a senior partner of the law firm Webber Wentzel Bowens Inc. in Cape Town, said his firm has been asked to represent Thatcher. No decision has been made. The Margaret Thatcher Foundation in London didn't return an e-mail asking for comment. Thatcher is suspected of providing funding and logistical support for a failed bid to overthrow Equatorial Guinea's president Obian Nguema, said Makhosini Nkosi, a spokesman for the country's national prosecuting authority, which oversees the Scorpions. ``We'll offer normal consular assistance that is given to any British citizen that is arrested abroad. This is routine.'' said Nick Sheppard, a spokesman for the British High Commission, in a telephone interview from Cape Town. The Scorpions had ``not ruled out the possibility'' that he may be extradited to Equatorial Guinea where a group of alleged coup plotters are on trial, although it was unlikely, Nkosi said. ``We're investigating charges of contravening the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act. If someone breaks a law in South Africa, they'll be tried in South Africa and serve their sentence here.'' U.K. Visit ``In our country we are all equal before the law,'' said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa's foreign affairs minister, on the sidelines of a visit by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in Cape Town. She was not aware of Thatcher's arrest. ``The law must take its course.'' Thatcher is the neighbor of Simon Mann, a former SAS officer, and one of 70 men on trial in Zimbabwe for the alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea, according to an article posted on The Guardian newspaper's website. The men were caught after their chartered Boeing 727-100 landed to collect weapons, the website said. ``They will appear on Friday for judgment and sentencing,'' Advocate Francois Joubert, their legal representative, said in a telephone interview from Johannesburg, without elaborating further. Another group of 18 men are on trial in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, for the alleged coup attempt in March. One of the men's Leaders, Nick du Toit, may face the death penalty, while the others may face life imprisonment if found guilty, according to Johannesburg-based news agency South African Press Association. Thatcher is married to Diane Burgdorf and has two children. He moved to South Africa in 1995.

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