Mark's coup crisis: Thatcher women to hold talks

[seemslikeadream]

The wife of Mark Thatcher, who was arrested in South Africa last week on suspicion he financed a coup attempt in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, is expected to hold crisis talks with former British prime minister Lady Margaret Thatcher.

Diane Thatcher flew from Cape Town airport to Heathrow with their two children today after it was originally thought they were bound for the United States.

She is reported to be meeting Lady Thatcher at her London home to discuss accusations that Sir Mark was involved in a failed coup in the oil-rich West African nation of Equatorial Guinea, according to The Sun newspaper.

Mark Thatcher is under house arrest at his luxury Cape Town home and could face up to 15 years in jail if convicted of helping to fund the purchase of a helicopter to be used in the alleged coup.
more
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/31/1093915283340.html?oneclick=true

[Maple]

1. Mummey...help!

[daleo]

2. Perhaps he will be the first one to see St. Ronnie again

Sweet revenge for South Africa's current rulers, who were reviled by Lady Thatcher, who was one of apartheid's greatest apologists.

[AP]

3. From an interview with Namibia's President Nujoma

Baffour
Did you ever meet Mrs. Thatcher and President Reagan, and what did you say to them?

Nujoma
Yes, she came here and asked for an appointment. You know she has a son who is running a business in South Africa. I don't know why she decided to come here, but I granted her the appointment. I had lunch with her, but she refused to talk to the press.

Baffour
During the lunch, did you talk about some of the things she had done in the past, trying to block Namibia's liberation?

Nujoma
No, no. I just wanted her to feel small.

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/ankomah9.html

[lapfog_1]

4. I thought it was a bit more serious than that

Not that 15 years in prison is anything to sneeze at.

But if Mark is extradited to E.G., then he could be found
guilty of sedition and sentenced to death by firing squad.
At least that's one report that I read on the net. Don't
have the link... I'll try to find it.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. I don't think South Africa would extradite him in that case

"South Africa is opposed to the death penalty and we wouldn't extradite someone to a country where he would face the danger of the death penalty," Makhosini Nkosi, spokesman of the elite Scorpions detective unit, was quoted as saying by the South African Press Association.
http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/27/content_1898959.htm

This is common practice among countries which don't have the death penalty; eg the UK refuses to extradite people to the USA without assurances they won't be executed.

[lapfog_1]

6. Yes

Didn't know that SA doesn't support the death penalty...
so that means life in an EG prison? Or at least until there
really IS a coup and a new regime is in power. And given that
EG apparently has a lot of oil, this won't be long in coming.

[sattahipdeep]

7. Maggie called Poppy

Today, U.S. oil firms dominate the Equatorial Guinea landscape. ExxonMobil, Amerada Hess, Chevron
Texaco and Marathon Oil have the largest share of the country's oil production.

http://www.publici.org/bow/report.aspx?aid=151&sid=100

[seemslikeadream]

8. sattahipdeep I've been trying to get the connection between

Idema and Krongard. Would you, could you help me out a little more?

http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16570-2001Ma...
But Krongard exhibited the requisite secretiveness when asked
to explain his interest in intelligence and how he came to land
a job in Tenet's inner circle. If you go back to the CIA's origins
during World War II in the Office of Strategic Services, he
explained, "the whole OSS was really nothing but Wall Street
bankers and lawyers."

Alex Brown pays $15 million to settle yield-burning case
Largest amount paid by an investment bank so far for a qui tam case
http://www.phillipsandcohen.com/CM/NewsSettlements/Pres...


Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Krongard has traveled to Afghanistan, hiding
his facial features behind a beard. After the war in Iraq broke out in
March, he went to Baghdad to see firsthand how events were unfolding.
While inside a palace that belonged to the deposed Saddam Hussein,
Krongard had a snapshot taken of him sitting on a palace throne.

Published: August 1, 2004, Sunday
Mr. Krongard, who is 67 and is known as Buzzy, became the executive director of the
C.I.A. in March 2001. He joined the agency in February 1998 as counselor to its director in
McLean, Va. Previously, he was a chairman and chief executive of Alex.Brown & Sons, the
Baltimore investment banking firm, and a vice chairman of Bankers Trust, which purchased
Alex .Brown.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E0D7...

[sattahipdeep]

13. seemslikeadream~Mental links~is all

Krongard described "his role" as that of a chief "operating officer"
and vowed to keep everyone focused. "If you ask me, 'What is your
one biggest priority?' it would be to do everything I can to
support our two basic "missions" here, "operations" and
intelligence," he said.
"If you don't worry about who gets the "credit", you can
accomplish an awful lot."
....
Mr Idema also features in a
book, The Hunt for Bin Laden, by
Robin Moore, portrayed as an
unconventional but effective
"operative" assisting in the fight
against al-Qaeda.

His former girlfriend is quoted on
a US website as saying: "He likes his name in lights."
......
Contractors have also been used by the CIA to interrogate
detainees in Afghanistan.

That makes it harder for the US authorities to convince people
that they are not involved with people like Jonathan Idema.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3881317.stm
.....





US admits 'bounty hunter' contact




A judge in Equatorial Guinea
suspends indefinitely the trial.

What does that say?

Maggie called Poppy and Poppy called Korndoggy.

[lapfog_1]

9. Aha!

So if EG (MBASOGO) gets hold of Mark, than the oil companies that
provide him and his family with their mansions around the world
will pressure him to letting Mark go. Apparently there is rumor
that MBASOGO likes to eat the testicles of his enemies, so maybe
if Mark is extradited to EG, maybe he leaves minus some things.

[daleo]

10. That rumor is all I need to know that the west plans a coup/invasion

Whenever I hear these sorts of rumors (cannibalism and/or sexual perversity, and this one includes both) I just know that the propaganda ground is being seeded for a western backed coup or invasion. The fact that this country has vast reserves of oil is the topper for this inference.

[lapfog_1]

11. Yes, you are correct.

I just did a google search on the guy and that popped right up.

Course, there have been African leaders like Idi Amin who were
rather more brutal than even Saddam, which can give such rumors
"legs".

But I suspect that this coup attempt will not be the last word.

[fedsron2us]

12. The punishment should fit the criminals background.

Mark Thatcher should be sentenced to 15 years hard labour in a South African mine. It would be fitting revenge for all those British coal producing communities that were laid waste by his mother