By Daniel Flynn
MALABO (Reuters) - British mercenary Simon Mann soughtleniency from a court in Equatorial Guinea on Friday, saying hewas sorry for having been part of a failed coup plot to topplethe president of the oil-rich West African state.
Mann, an Eton-educated former special forces officer, risksbeing sent to jail for nearly 32 years for his role in the 2004conspiracy to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang NguemaMbasogo. He has said he was just "an employee" in the plot.
"I apologise for what has happened and I am very happy thatnothing actually happened in 2004," Mann told the court on thefourth and final day of his trial, held in a heavily guardedconference centre in the Equatorial Guinea capital Malabo.
Although the trial proceedings ended on Friday, a verdictis not expected until next week, Mann's defence lawyer, JosePablo Nvo, and court officials said.
Appealing for leniency, Nvo asked the three-judge tribunalto sentence Mann to only a third of the term demanded by theprosecution.
He portrayed his client as a pawn of powerful internationalbusinessmen he said were seeking to seize the oil and gasriches of Equatorial Guinea, sub-Saharan Africa's third largestoil producer, which Obiang has ruled since 1979.
"This story is a tale of how business lobbies tried tocarve up Equatorial Guinea's crude oil and gas resources ... Ashe (Mann) testified yesterday, this criminal operation is stillunder way," Nvo said.
"What I am asking for is a third of the sentence sought bythe prosecution," he added.
Mann, who has looked gaunt and pale in his grey prisonuniform during the four-day trial, has admitted he was part ofthe coup plot, which was foiled when Zimbabwe arrested him and70 mercenaries en route to Equatorial Guinea aboard a plane.
But he testified he was just "an employee" in a plot hesaid was financed and backed by international businessmenincluding London-based Lebanese millionaire Eli Calil and MarkThatcher, son of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Mark Thatcher and Calil are not on trial in Malabo. Theyhave denied any involvement in the coup conspiracy.
Asked by reporters on Friday if he was prepared to spendthe rest of his life in Malabo's notorious Black Beach prison,where he is being held, Mann replied: "If I have to, I haveto".
MANN "WAS LIED TO"
Equatorial Guinea's Public Prosecutor Jose Olo Obono saidMann had cooperated during the investigation and trial.
On Tuesday, he asked the court to sentence Mann to acumulative jail term of 31 years and eight months on charges ofcrimes against the head of state, crimes against the governmentand crimes against the peace and independence of the state.
Olo Obono said Equatorial Guinea would seek the extraditionof Mark Thatcher and Calil.
Defence lawyer Nvo said Mann had been lied to by Calilabout the conditions in Equatorial Guinea, which, according toMann's testimony, Calil had told him was ripe for a coup.
During his trial, Mann had said that the governments ofSpain and South Africa had given a "green light" to the 2004conspiracy, which had aimed to replace Obiang with exiledopposition leader Severo Moto. The Spanish and South Africangovernments have denied Mann's allegations.
Mann, the heir to a brewing fortune who attended Britain'sexclusive Eton College and served in the British army's eliteSpecial Air Service, was extradited from Zimbabwe this yearafter serving a four-year sentence for illegal arms possession.
He told reporters on Friday that while in jail in Zimbabwe,he was offered a deal in 2005 by Equatorial Guinea authoritiesin which they would drop charges against him and allow him togo home if he gave them information about the otherconspirators.
But at the time he had refused on the advice of hislawyers.
(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say onthe top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)
(Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Catherine Evans)
