Alleged mercenaries not to be extradited

The Zimbabwean government will not extradite the 70 alleged mercenaries held on charges of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea, the official Herald newspaper reported on Saturday. The newspaper quoted Zimbabwe's Home Affairs Minister, Kembo Mohadi, as saying that a request by a delegation from the central African country on behalf of Equatorial Guinea President Obiang Mbasogo was turned down. "We said it was not possible since it will be against international laws," Mohadi was quoted as saying. The 70 suspects, all South African passport holders, were arrested on 7 March on board a plane that landed at Harare International airport. The men said they had been contracted to guard mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but were subsequently charged with violation of Zimbabwe's Public Order and Security Act, the Firearms Act and the Immigration Act. The detainees have been linked to 15 suspected coup plotters arrested in Equatorial Guinea, one of whom has since died. Their trial began on Monday in Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea, with the prosecutor announcing that he would call for the death penalty for South African Nick du Toit, the alleged leader of the coup-plotters. The trial of the 70 alleged mercenaries held in Zimbabwe ended last week. A verdict is due soon.