lifestyle leader

As I catch up on some reading this weekend, a little story out of a tiny west African nation has caught my attention again.

Earlier this month, Simon Mann, an 'Eton-educated former SAS officer' and, as of late, British mercenary, had his 34 year sentence pardoned in Equatorial Guinea. Mann was arrested en Zimbabwe in 2004 along with a shady band of mercenaries in route to Equatorial Guinea. After three years in a Zimbabwe prison, he was extradited to the west African nation and convicted in 2008 of attempting to overthrow the government of President Teodoro Obiang. Why Equatorial Guinea? Because there be oil in them waters.

I won't get into the details of the plot, because its Sunday and I have a very good account to recommend, but lets just say it involves a curious cast of characters, including the son of a former British prime minister, the governments of Spain and South Africa, a Lebanese financier, battle-hardened mercenaries and intelligence agencies from London to Washington. What makes the story even more remarkable is that the coup's development was an open secret in Europe and America, so much so that conference panels would discuss what would happen 'IF' Obiang fell.

The Wonga Coup is a fascinating story full of international intrigue and I highly recommend Adam Roberts' account in The Wonga Coup. You can read it on Google books here, but I suggest buying it. Stay tuned: Mann has all but guaranteed this story isn't over.