THE Foreign Office intervened in a bid to prevent a coup attempt in the west African state of Equatorial Guinea despite earlier denials that it knew about the plot.

Diplomats summoned Lieutenant Colonel Tim Spicer, Britain’s most notorious mercenary, to a meeting in London to express their disapproval a month before the attempt took place.

The former Scots Guards officer told officials he had no knowledge of any plot. Although Spicer was not involved, several of his former business partners were. It was hoped he would convey the British government’s misgivings to them.

The diplomats’ behind-the-scenes role raises new questions about how much the government knew of the plot and whether it did enough to stop a military action led by a British officer and partly financed by British-based businessmen.

Simon Mann, the former SAS captain who led the small army of mercenaries, was told of the British government’s misgivings. But one associate claims Ely Calil, the London-based businessman who is alleged to have backed the coup, pressured him to go ahead with the attempt to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, the Equatorial Guinea dictator.

The coup failed when Mann and his mercenaries were arrested in Zimbabwe last March as they attempted to collect their weapons. When the full details emerged, Equatorial Guinea accused the British government of doing little to warn it of the impending attack.

Last August the Foreign Office said it had not known the coup was about to take place in March, giving the impression it had no advance intelligence.

But last week Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, gave the clearest account yet of precisely what the government knew and when. “On 29 January this year the Foreign Office received an intelligence report of preparations for a possible coup in Equatorial Guinea,” he said in a statement.

“It was not definitive enough for us to conclude a coup was likely or inevitable. It was passed by another government to us on the normal condition that it not be passed on.

“I considered the case and agreed the (Foreign Office) should approach an individual formerly connected with a British private military company, both to attempt to test the veracity of the report and to make clear the (Foreign Office) was firmly opposed to any unconstitutional action such as coups d’état.

“A senior Foreign Office official did so within days. The individual concerned claimed no knowledge of the plans.”

The Sunday Times has confirmed that the “individual” was Spicer. He had been singled out because of his association with Sandline, the private military company. Both Mann and Greg Wales, another of the British coup organisers, were heavily involved in Sandline.

It was hoped Spicer would pass the information on. “By speaking to him, the inference was that our comment the Foreign Office was against the coup should reach the people it needed to reach,” said a government source.

On Friday, Spicer confirmed he had attended the meeting but denied he had been asked to pass on the warning. However, friends of Mann say he did receive indirect warnings from the British and South African governments. “There was a document circulating,” said a colleague. “A friend of his went to him and said, ‘This is what is being said, take a look at this. If you are involved, stop it’.”

Mann denied his involvement and said he had been investing in a fishing business in the country.

Friends of his said they believed he pressed ahead with his plans, even though they were compromised, because he was under pressure from Calil and his backers. In a statement to the Zimbabwean authorities, Mann — who is serving a seven-year sentence for his role in the plot — said: “At Christmas 2003 funds were made available to me to go ahead; $400,000 was my own. Unfortunately, a time limit of February 16 was set by Ely Calil.”

Mann was also being pressed to go ahead by Severo Moto, the exiled Equatorial Guinean opposition leader.

“Simon was under huge pressure from Calil and Moto and he was running short of operational funds,” said an associate. “Calil had not put in as much as he said he would. Simon was getting into problems. He took a resigned view. He was exhausted with the emotional stress. His biggest mistake was not to abandon the operation.”

Calil’s role in the coup is only now coming under closer scrutiny. Lebanese-born, he has interests and political connections throughout Africa. He is especially close to a number of senior Nigerian politicians, as well as being a friend of the disgraced Tory peer Lord Archer.

South Africa’s Scorpions, the elite detectives investigating the plot, want to question Peter Mandelson, the European Union trade commissioner. An intelligence report claims Calil discussed Britain’s attitude to the coup with Mandelson, who denies having the conversation, or any involvement in the coup.

Calil, who is reported to have invested more than $700,000 (about £360,000) in the coup attempt, headed a group of largely British investors who were promised a fivefold return. According to Mann, it was Calil who introduced him to Moto and persuaded him to lead a mercenary force on his behalf.

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