[2] The incident received international media attention after the reported involvement of Sir Mark Thatcher in funding the coup, for which he was convicted and fined in South Africa.

[2] The alleged plot leader, ex-Special Air Service (SAS) officer Simon Mann,[3] was arrested with two colleagues near the runway while waiting for arms to be loaded on a Boeing 727 (N4610), carrying three crew and 64 former soldiers recruited in South Africa.

On 9 March 2004 Nick du Toit and 14 other South African and Angolan men were arrested in Equatorial Guinea on suspicion of being the mercenaries' vanguard.

[4] It was alleged that those arrested in Zimbabwe made a stopover in Harare City to buy weapons and expected to join a team in Equatorial Guinea to overthrow President Obiang.

[16] Morgan, a friend of Mann, refused to comment when asked whether he had been involved in the coup attempt, but was known for his connections to the South African Secret Service and was suspected of reporting on the plotters to the authorities.

[10] The documents were from Johann Smith, a former commander in South African Special Forces and an internationally renowned security analyst who has been an occasional adviser to President Obiang.

The report also mentioned the group's connections with the Equatorial Guinea opposition leader Severo Moto and warned that any operation would pose a threat to stability in the region.

[9] Crause Steyl was one of the pilots picked to fly the key planners of the coup in a chartered King 200 twin turbo prop aircraft, registered ZS-NBJ, who later turned prosecution witness in South Africa.

"[21] On 13 October 2004 in London, a lawyer for the Equatorial Guinea government said that telephone records showed four calls between the homes of one of the alleged financiers behind the plot, Ely Calil, and Lord Archer in the run-up to the coup attempt in March.

[22] On 13 January 2005, Mark Thatcher, in a South African court, pleaded guilty to helping finance a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea.

South African police were able to prove that Mr Thatcher had transferred about US$285,000 to the mercenaries that were to execute the operation and had met and talked frequently to them prior to the coup attempt.

[23] Ely Calil, the Chelsea-based Lebanese oil billionaire who was sued in London by the Government of Equatorial Guinea, is alleged to have raised another $750,000.

[2] Bank details of Simon Mann's Guernsey firm, Logo Logistics, reveal that a JH Archer made a payment of $134,000 (£74,000) into his account in the days before the failed coup attempt.

[5] Lord Archer initially issued a statement through his lawyers stating that he had "no prior knowledge" of the alleged coup and that he had not spoken to Sir Mark for "approximately 10 years".

[19][22] In January, on the same day the plotters were meeting at Sandton in Johannesburg, Ely Calil called Lord Archer and the pair apparently spoke for 15 minutes.

A lawyer for the Equatorial Guinea government said in London that telephone records showed four calls between Ely Calil and Lord Archer in the run-up to the coup attempt in March.

[22] Prosecutors said Equatorial Guinea's opposition leader, Severo Moto Nsá, based in Spain, offered the group $1.8m and oil rights to overthrow the government.

[5] Equatorial Guinea official sources claim that in November 2003 wrong date?,[dubious – discuss] when the plot was in its early stages, an Old Etonian mercenary, Simon Mann, paid Mr Wales about $8,000.

Theresa Whelan, a member of the Bush administration in charge of African affairs at the Pentagon, twice met a London-based businessman, Greg Wales, in Washington before the coup attempt.

After receiving news of the coup, Jack Straw ordered a change to evacuation plans for British citizens in Equatorial Guinea.

[10] President Obiang commented on the lack of warning despite admissions of prior knowledge: This is particularly surprising in view of the fact that a number of British citizens and residents of the UK appear to be central to the conspiracy to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea.

[9]Jack Straw had told parliament that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office did investigate if there were any British companies involved in the plot after receiving confidential reports, but failed to find any evidence.