2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt the US of backing the plot, but the Pentagon denies supporting it. US officials say it was Greg Wales who made all the approaches to them. Greg Wales, a London-based property dealer, is alleged to have raised $500,000. Equatorial Guinea official sources claim that in November 2003 , when the plot was in its early stages, an Old Etonian mercenary, Simon Mann, paid Mr Wales about $8,000. Mr Wales denies any involvement in the coup. 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
2009 Equatorial Guinean presidential election recent weeks it [the government] has stifled and harassed the country's beleaguered political opposition ... [and] imposed serious constraints on international observers." With similar observations and accounts in mind, IFES commentator Almani Cyllah said that "it is a little difficult to see how we can say that those elections are free and fair." 2009 Equatorial Guinean presidential election A presidential election was held in Equatorial Guinea on November 29, 2009. Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has been President of Equatorial Guinea since 1979, ran for another term and won re-election with 95.4% of the vote, according to official results. Opposition leader