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08/26/2004:

"Mark Thatcher 'was planning Texas move'"

Guardian UK
Sir Mark Thatcher was planning a move from South Africa to Texas when he was arrested over alleged involvement in a coup plot, a South African prosecutor said today.

Margaret Thatcher's son is under house arrest and facing the possibility of 15 years in prison after being accused over an alleged plot to overthrow the government of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.

The 51-year-old, who denies the charge, was arrested at his Cape Town home early yesterday, and appeared in court in the city later that day.

Makhosini Nkosi, a spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority, today said: "It does appear that he was planning to leave the country.

"The house was on the market, he had disposed of some of the cars, and there were suitcases around the house which indicated they were planning to leave. He did confirm he was planning to relocate to Texas." full article

A senior politician's son is accused of attempting to profit from African oil. Sound familiar? Ros Taylor recalls the troubles of Jean-Christophe Mitterrand Guardian UK
Mark Thatcher is not the only scion of a European political dynasty to be dogged by accusations that he tried to profit from African oil.

Four years ago, Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, the son of France's former president, was arrested on charges of helping to traffic hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of Russian arms to Angola in the mid-1990s, when the country was in the grip of a brutal and protracted civil war.

He was released in January 2001 after his mother, Danielle Mitterrand, raised five million francs (roughly £500,000) in bail- a sum she angrily referred to as a "ransom" - and the French court dropped its investigation a few months later on a legal technicality.

But "Angolagate" is still under investigation. Mr Mitterrand was arrested again in June this year and questioned about a fish-processing business he set up in Mauritania. Judge Philippe Courroye, who Mr Mitterrand accuses of conducting a vendetta against him and trying to sully the name of his family, suspects the factory may have provided a cover for money laundering. Mr Mitterrand insists he was simply trying to revive Mauritania's economy. full article

Mauritania, Angola, Equitorial Guinea...oil and natural gas. It's noblesse oblige you know...