Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president, has rejected a request from Equatorial Guinea for the extradition of 70 alleged mercenaries accused of plotting a coup in the West African country.
Mugabe and Kembo Mohadi, his home affairs minister, met with two envoys sent by Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Equatorial Guinea’s president, the government-controlled Herald newspaper reported over the weekend.
Mohadi told the newspaper: ”They wanted the extradition of the suspected mercenaries to Equatorial Guinea, where we said it is not possible, since it will be against international laws.”
Lawyers in Harare said Mugabe’s government cannot turn the suspects — mostly members of South Africa’s apartheid-era military forces — over to Equatorial Guinea because the extradition treaty between the countries was not signed when they were arrested in March.
The news will come as relief to the families of the men who feared they would face certain execution if they were extradited.
Mohadi said Obiang also requested evidence to use at the trial of 14 other suspected mercenaries held in Equatorial Guinea. That trial is scheduled to begin on Monday in Malabo, the capital.
One of the men arrested in Equatorial Guinea has already died in custody.
In Zimbabwe, the trial is under way of 67 of the 70 men who were arrested at Harare international airport.
Prosecutors say Equatorial Guinea’s Spanish-based rebel leader, Severo Moto, offered the group $1,8-million to overthrow Obiang.
The men say they were going to Democratic Republic of Congo to act as security guards. – Guardian Unlimited Â