The Mercenary: The trial of Old Etonian Simon Mann resumes in Zimbabwe this week. He is accused of trying to overthrow Equatorial Guinea’s President Nguema and could face execution
Eton was followed by Sandhurst and the Scots Guards, the British regiment most closely associated with royalty and upper-class British society. He passed the selection procedures of the SAS at the first attempt. He became troop commander of 22 SAS, serving in counter terrorism and intelligence in Cyprus, Germany, Norway, Canada, Central America and Northern Ireland.
He resigned from the army and established his own security company . However, he was so much a member of the Establishment and so highly thought of that General Sir Peter de la Billière, commander of British forces during the 1990 Gulf war, recalled Mann to uniform to be his right-hand man.
After the war, Mann became a mercenary soldier who was a hero to many black Africans. He put together a mercenary deal for the government of Angola that resulted in a major victory against guerrilla rebels.
For US$30 million, plus diamond mining and other mineral concessions, Mann registered a “security company” in London called Executive Outcomes. It was a front for a bigger outfit of the same name that was simultaneously established in South Africa, but which recruited former South African Defence Force fighters for mercenary operations in Africa.
more
http://www.sundayherald.com/43627