Equatorial Guinea has today charged Sir Mark Thatcher in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow the government of the oil-rich west African nation.

Sir Mark, the son of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, is accused of having helped finance the coup attempt, Attorney General Jose Olo Obono said.

He was added to the existing list of 19 other defendants, all accused mercenaries, on Tuesday, said Mr Obono. Some have already gone on trial in the capital, Malabo.

Equatorial Guinea now intends to seek Sir Mark's extradition to stand trial. Prosecutors allege that Sir Mark and other British financiers were involved in a plot which also drew in Equatorial Guinea opposition leaders, scores of South African mercenaries, and six Armenian pilots.

The coup plotters intended to force out the 25-year regime of President Teodoro Obiang, installing Severo Moto, an exiled opposition figure, in his stead as a figurehead leader for Africa’s third largest oil producer, Equatorial Guinea claims.

The alleged plot was exposed in March by South African intelligence services, and scores of accused mercenaries were arrested both in South Africa and in Zimbabwe.

Thatcher was arrested in August at his home in South Africa. He is due to stand trial in South Africa in a week's time.

The authorities in Equatorial Guinea told The Times yesterday that they would wait until after the South African courts have finished their trial before trying to extradite him.

Officials in the capital, Malabo, say that they also want to extradite three other British-based businessmen — Greg Wales, an accountant; David Tremain, a mining magnate, and Ely Calil, a multimillionaire whose Chelsea home was allegedly used by the conspirators. All three men deny the allegations.

Yesterday, a self-confessed mercenary agreed in a plea-bargaining deal to testify that Sir Mark was a key figure in the failed coup.

Crause Steyl, a pilot and businessman, says that he will tell how Sir Mark allegedly paid him £145,000 to buy a Boeing aircraft to fly the mercenary army into Equatorial Guinea.

Steyl admitted yesterday his role in the bungled plot to a South African court, and was allowed to pay a hefty fine and escape a jail sentence in exchange for testimony against Sir Mark and others who allegedly financed the coup.

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