Simon Mann Simon Mann Simon Francis Mann (born 26 June 1952) is a former British Army officer and mercenary. He served part of a 34-year prison sentence in Equatorial Guinea for his role in a failed coup d'état in 2004, before receiving a presidential pardon on humanitarian grounds on 2 November 2009. Mann was extradited from Zimbabwe to Equatorial Guinea on 1 February 2008, having been accused of planning a "coup d'état" to overthrow the government by leading a mercenary force into the capital Malabo in an effort to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Charges in South Africa of aiding a
Foreign relations of Equatorial Guinea established diplomatic relations with numerous European and Third World countries. Having achieved independence under UN sponsorship, Equatorial Guinea feels a special kinship with that organization. It became the 126th UN member on November 12, 1968. Equatorial Guinea currently serves as a non-permanent member on the United Nations Security Council with a two-year term ending in 2019. Foreign relations of Equatorial Guinea A transitional agreement, signed in October 1968, implemented a Spanish preindependence decision to assist Equatorial Guinea and provided for the temporary maintenance of Spanish forces there. A dispute with President Francisco Macías Nguema in 1969 led to a request