Equatorial Guinea Dictator Was "lovely" According to Wife Of Failed Coup Brit Mercenary

A "lovely dictator', is an oxymoron if there ever was one, but apparently Equatorial Guinea's dictator, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, is as lovely as can be. At least so says Simon Mann's wife, 39-year-old Amanda. Simon was a 57-year-old British mercenary who sauntered off to Africa in 2004 to launch a coup against Obiang, who had actually overthrown his predecessor in a bloody coup back in the late 1970s. Simon was captured in Zimbabwe at the Harare airport along with a bunch of South African mercenaries. They were there to pick up a truckload of weapons, including AK assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Arrested and jailed for four years he was somehow smuggled in to Equatorial Guinea where he was tried and sentenced to 34 years in jail for the failed coup. That is, until he was pardoned and released last year for humanitarian reasons. According to the presidential decree he was having health issues that Obiang felt would be better addressed in England. Others cite other possible reasons:

simonmann 1518463c 1Pm9M 16105

At the time, diplomatic sources suggested Mann had struck a secret deal whereby he implicated others, including Sir Mark Thatcher, son of Lady Thatcher, and Ely Calil, a London-based businessman, in the coup in exchange for his freedom. Both have repeatedly denied any involvement.

But for the year or so he was incarcerated in Black Beach prison, considered a "hellhole", he was apparently treated like royalty. At least so says his wife Amanda. Equatorial Guinea, in spite of the fact it's run by a dictator, is a very prosperous African nation. And Amanda claims his stay there was quite extraordinary.

.. in her first interview since her husband was granted a presidential pardon in November 2009, conditions there could not have been nicer.

Rather than surviving on the meagre rations handed out to fellow prisoners, the Old Etonian and former SAS commando dined on food prepared by a hotel chef, provided in such bounteous quantities that he embarked on a diet to stay slim.

When he required medical treatment for a hernia, he was cared for in the "fabulous" president's private clinic.

"The president arranged for hotel meals every day and Simon said he knew which chef was on that day by the food they cooked but he never ate all of it because he wanted to stay trim and slim," Mrs Mann told Tatler magazine.

Mann's treatment at the hands of President Teodoro Obiang was so wonderful, she said, that the couple have sent the "lovely" dictator a book about the New Forest as a thank-you.

Though no-one knows the real reasons for his release, he does seem to have been treated very well. In the interview, Amanda said since she had no clue whether he would ever be released, she had planned last year on leaving her hubby. But with his freedom that all changed.

she explained: "Little did I know that President Obiang was busy being a lovely, lovely man and giving me back the man I love and the father of my children. He was changing the way he ran his country, and looking to reform, and his treatment of Simon was a sign of that.

"I never knew that the president was going to be as fabulous as he was and I'm eternally grateful to him."

And they're apparently still buddy buddy with the Equatorial Guinea government, stopping off regularly at the embassy for a chat and some tea.

And, as expected Simon, though heir to a brewing company fortune, sees the dollar signs in his adventure, if you can call it that. Not only is he writing a book about his experience, he is also looking to sell the film rights. Look for his story on the big screen soon. Maybe Obiang will finance the movie since it would make him out to be quite a decent fellow, even though some have said he's a worse dictator than Zimbabwe's Mugabe. At least his country is doing well economically as opposed to Mugabe's. But a dictator is a dictator, "lovely" or not. Since that loveliness isnt always equally shared.