Fears for Brit accused in coup plot

Fears are growing for a former British soldier who faces the death sentence after he was arrested in Zimbabwe and charged with aiding a coup plot against another African country.

Simon Mann, 46, a former member of the SAS and an old Etonian, was among 64 men arrested at Harare International Airport on Sunday and accused of being mercenaries, hired to help overthrow the government in Equatorial Guinea.

Zimbabwe has confirmed it is holding Mr Mann and says it will not rule out the death sentence amid claims he and the other men were hired with the help of British, American and Spanish intelligence agencies.

But consular staff at the British Embassy in Harare have yet to make contact with Mr Mann, who is being charged in Zimbabwe with trying to 'destabilise a sovereign government'.

The Foreign Office says it has no details on any court case today, no details that a British citizen is being detained in Zimbabwe and that no British official will be in court to witness any supposed case against Mr Mann if indeed there is one.

The only way it will interfere is if Mr Mann or his family or the Zimbabweans declare he is British and in need of assistance, and that has not happened.

Mr Mann was arrested in Harare as he waited for a plane carrying the other alleged mercenaries, including 20 South Africans, 18 Namibians, 23 Angolans and two Congolese.

He is thought to have been held at Chikurubi prison on the outskirts of the Zimbabwe capital.

Zimbabwe had said on Thursday the men were also being charged under its aviation, firearms and immigration laws, although there were no reports of any weapons being found on the plane.

Amid reports he has homes in South Africa and in Hampshire, Britain, Mr Mann's nationality remains unclear - the Army will sign-up those Britons with dual nationality and citizens from the Commonwealth but has not confirmed Mr Mann was a member of the forces.

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