Thatcher’s Son Accused of Coup Plot

Thatcher, 51, was taken into custody during a raid on his home in the upscale Cape Town suburb of Constantia shortly after 7 a.m. by police armed with search warrants. He was expected to be charged with violation of the Foreign Military Assistance Act, police spokesman Sipho Ngwema said.

"We have evidence, credible evidence, and information that he was involved in the attempted coup," said Ngwema. "We refuse that South Africa be a springboard for coups in Africa and elsewhere."

Thatcher's court appearance was delayed when he was robbed of his shoes, jacket and cell phone in a crowded holding cell, according to a court official who witnessed the attack. Thatcher did not appear to have been injured and police were seeking to recover the items, the witness said.

Thatcher, who has a twin sister but is the only son of Lady Thatcher and Denis Thatcher, was in his pajamas when police arrived and he received permission to take a shower before they began their search, Ngwema said.

Investigators searched his records and computers for evidence. They accused Thatcher of helping to finance a plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea, which authorities claimed was foiled in March.

"We believe Mr. Thatcher assisted in finance and logistics," Ngwema said.

He left the house in a police vehicle, dressed in a dark suit and blue shirt.

Thatcher's lawyer, Peter Hodes, said was arrested on suspicion of providing financing for a helicopter linked to the coup plot. "He will plead not guilty," Hodes said.

Thatcher was expected to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court later Wednesday to be formally charged, Ngwema said.

Equatorial Guinea has put 19 people on trial for involvement. One other defendant died in custody under suspicious circumstances. Seventy other accused mercenaries are on trial separately in Zimbabwe.

Equatorial Guinea has alleged that Thatcher, along with British and South African oil broker Eli Calil and other foreigners helped fund the alleged coup attempt. Lawyers for Thatcher and Calil deny the allegation.

At the trial in Equatorial Guinea, a lawyer representing the government said that the country would be interested in extraditing Thatcher.

Equatorial Guinea, Africa's No. 3 oil producer, has taken steps toward issuing an international arrest warrant for Thatcher, an official said on condition of anonymity, but no such arrest warrant has been announced.

The 19 defendants on trial since Monday in Equatorial Guinea were charged with attempting to assassinate a head of state, illegal possession of arms and explosives, terrorism, treason and endangering the public.

A lead defendant, South African arms dealer Nick du Toit, testified Wednesday that he attended a July 2003 South Africa meeting with Thatcher and Britain's Simon Mann � on trial in Zimbabwe as the alleged head of the plan.

But Thatcher only showed interest in buying military helicopters for a mining enterprise in Sudan, said du Toit, facing the death penalty for his alleged role in the plot.

"This was a normal business deal," du Toit testified.

President Teodoro Obiang's 25-year regime � accused by the U.S. State Department and others of torture and other abuses � is at the center of an oil boom in the Gulf of Guinea. The region is estimated to hold 10 percent of the world's oil reserves, and some of its most corrupt governments.

Since the development of Equatorial Guinea's oil industry began in the mid-1990s, the rain-streaked nation of just 500,000 has enjoyed one of the fastest economic growth rates in the world, at up to 70 percent a year.

South Africa, which has sought to crack down on the involvement of its nationals in foreign mercenary activities, has been involved in the investigation of the alleged plot against Obiang since the start.

Its intelligence services tipped Zimbabwe authorities off to the arrival of a plane carrying 67 of the suspects in Harare on March 7. They were allegedly en route to Equatorial Guinea.

They were arrested in Zimbabwe's capital with three other suspects, including Mann, the alleged plot leader, and charged with seeking to procure weapons from the state arms manufacturer. The 70 defendants maintain they were on their way to Congo to provide security at a mining operation.

The South African Press Association quoted police as saying Thatcher was being "relatively cooperative" with investigators.

Thatcher studied accounting but then pursued an undistinguished career in motor racing. In January 1982, he was lost for six days during an auto rally across the Sahara desert, causing his mother to weep in public for the first time.

He started his own company and moved to Texas in April 1984 after a lengthy controversy over reports that he represented a British construction firm that won a contract worth $600 million in Oman while Mrs. Thatcher was there on a trade-boosting trip in 1981.

He moved to South Africa two years ago and has been involved in various ventures after business troubles in the United States, including a civil racketeering lawsuit in Dallas that he settled for an undisclosed sum and charges from the Internal Revenue Service (news - web sites) for his role with a Dallas-based home security company that went bankrupt.

Thatcher also was under scrutiny in Parliament in Britain in 1994 over allegations he was involved in international arms deals while his mother was prime minister.