ZIMBABWE: A police investigator told Zimbabwe's trial of 70 suspected mercenaries yesterday that much of the group's equipment could be used by security guards, but arms such as artillery were only used by the military.
Most of the 70 suspects on trial in Harare pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of conspiring to possess dangerous weapons in connection with an alleged plot to topple the government of Equatorial Guinea.
Zimbabwe has held the men since March 7th when their plane landed in Harare. Zimbabwe officials said they were stopping off on their way to carry out a coup against the oil-rich West African state's leader, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
The group are all South African passport-holders but include men from Angola, Namibia and Britain. They say they were headed to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to guard mining operations.
Defence lawyer Jonathan Samkange yesterday cross-examined police investigator Clemence Madzingo on equipment seized with the men, said to include maps, uniforms and other items.
"Can you tell this court which items could not be used by a security company especially in the DRC, where you are expected to fight all sorts of people?" Mr Samkange asked.
Mr Madzingo conceded much of the equipment could be used by security guards. But he added that other items the men allegedly sought to purchase, including artillery, hand grenades, anti-tank missile launchers and mortar bombs, were only used by military forces. "Security companies cannot use artillery, even in the DRC," he told a special court convened in the Harare maximum-security prison where the men are being held.
Last month, 67 of the 70 suspects detained in Harare pleaded guilty on lesser charges of contravening Zimbabwe's immigration and aviation laws. Simon Mann, a former member of Britain's special forces regarded as the group's leader, pleaded guilty to attempting to possess dangerous weapons. - (Reuters)