Watch Out

A public relations offensive was planned within 12 hours of taking power to avoid “unfavourable scrutiny”. This was to be particularly aimed at the Americans, who have oil interests in the region. “We must make them aware of the upside, from a commercial, human and political rights, transparency . . . position,” says one document.

The “transparency”, however, was to be accompanied by a “disinformation campaign” to make other states believe the coup was supported by the Americans and therefore back off. Such was the duplicity, the documents show, that plotters trusted no one, not even their fellow conspirators. “It is potentially a very lucrative game,” begins the document assessing threats. “We should expect bad behaviour; disloyalty; rampant individual greed; irrational behaviour (kids in toyshop type); back-stabbing . . . and similar ungentlemanly activities.”

Their greatest fear was that Moto, who has run the opposition’s government in exile from Madrid, would be popularly acclaimed by the people, and so become too powerful to control. The plotters believed he had clear support from half the population.

The “threats” document continues: “Once he has got it (the presidency) he will probably feel that he got it mainly through his own efforts . . . He may assume that whoever puts him in power can be a disposable syringe.

“He may . . . regard us chiefly as a limitation on him doing and behaving as he wants (eg grabbing as much money as he can), and seek to be rid of us for his own reasons.”

The plotters feared he might “denounce them” as a threat to him or say they had been working for the previous regime.Their “remedy” was to make Moto dependent on them.

The document notes that it would not be in the plotters’ interest for Obiang to be overthrown peacefully. “From our point of view he (Moto) needs to achieve power by coup or putsch; not by public acclamation on return, or by political dealing after it. We need to be fundamental to him retaining it,” the document says.

Moto’s closest advisers were to be tied to BBC, which would control the recruitment and payment of government officials. If this failed, they could resort to blackmail. “We must have the moral high ground. We must be in charge of the process of transparency, pursuing corruption.” This, it was hoped, would give a steady income stream. Perhaps more importantly it would “hopefully” provide “damaging information about M (Moto) or at any rate some of his family or colleagues”.

The plotters were also wary of a figure described as E, understood to be a reference to Eli Calil, one of Moto’s main supporters. According to the documents, E “has been working on this for a long time; clearly will have seen it as one where technicians execute the arrival plan and then he is in control. He may have an exaggerated view of his level of control over M”.

The coup plan was thwarted last March when Mann and his mercenaries were arrested at Harare airport in Zimbabwe as they waited to collect arms. Mann is now serving a four-year jail sentence in Harare for weapons offences.

Thatcher returned to Britain last week after pleading guilty to financing the coup, under a deal to co-operate with South Africa’s national prosecution authority. His evidence will be passed to British detectives investigating whether the alleged financiers, including Wales, Tremain and Calil, plotted the coup in breach of UK anti-terrorism laws. A spokesman for Thatcher refused to comment last week.

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