03/10/2004: 
Fraud & Conspiracy
Follow Up:Zimbabwe Details Nationalities of 'Mercenaries'
from Reuters
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe said on Tuesday 64 men it was holding on suspicion of being mercenaries were mainly Angolans, South Africans and Namibians, but added that Harare was not the final destination of the plane they arrived on.
Home Affairs (Interior) Minister Kembo Mohadi said authorities had also arrested a man identified as Simon Mann, a former member of the British Special Air Service who was at the airport to meet the plane when it landed in Harare on Sunday.
"So far, it would appear that Harare was not the final destination of the group. Bujumbura in Burundi, Mbujimayi in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and other destinations have been given by the group," Mohadi said in a statement.
Zimbabwe put its army on full alert after Sunday's seizure of a U.S.-registered 727-100 cargo plane that government officials said was carrying suspected foreign mercenaries and a cargo of military material.
The operator of the plane, UK-based Logo Logistics Ltd, said the men had been bound for the Democratic Republic of Congo to work as security guards on mines, and the aircraft had landed in Zimbabwe only to pick up mining equipment.
Meanwhile on the west coast of Africa, tiny, oil-rich Equatorial Guinea said on Tuesday it had arrested 15 suspected foreign mercenaries it described as an advance party connected with the group detained in Harare.
Mohadi said that of the 64 men detained in Harare, 20 were South Africans, 18 Namibians, 23 Angolans, two Congolese and one a Zimbabwean using a South African passport.
They included Simon Witherspoon, a "known South African mercenary who has operated in various countries in Africa including Cote d'Ivoire," Mohadi said.
Mohadi said Mann and a colleague had arrived in Zimbabwe early February and enquired about purchasing arms and ammunition, supposedly to protect a mining property in DRC.
"Questions were raised as to why the two South Africans would want to buy weapons from Zimbabwe if the end use was legal. South Africa is a much bigger arms manufacturer.
"A sinister motive was therefore suspected," Mohadi added. "The modus operandi of the group... indicates that the group was on a military mission on the African continent."
This is a weird one. Remember, yesterday the Sunday Times said the plane was once owned by the US Air Force. I wonder if we'll ever find out what these guys were doing, but I bet it wasn't nice.
More
A separate statement from the South African government, citing information from its ambassador to Zimbabwe, Jerry Ndou, confirmed most of the details but mentioned a third Congolese, which would raise the number of detainees to 65."All detainees are being held in a local prison pending the outcome of investigations surrounding the incident," South African Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said. He could not explain the discrepancy in the numbers.
In his statement, Mamoepa said any South Africans involved in mercenary activities were breaking the country's laws. "We do not yet know what they were doing. We have to wait for the outcome of Zimbabwe's investigation," he told Reuters.
