The mercenaries that were detained in Zimbabwe have been linked with an Equatorial Guinea coup plan conducted by South African's. The All Africa reports that at least two of the arrested mercenaries have been linked to the security firm Executive Outcomes (EO), when it assisted the Angolan government in fighting the rebel movement UNITA, and helped the Sierra Leone authorities deal with the Revolutionary United Front. The Herald Online (from Harare) reports that delegates from Equatorial Guinea will come to Harare to investigate.
The question of who instigated this coup plan has barely been raised, except by journal Africa Confidential - this story is only on the front page, so it may move from this adress in the future.
The other issue creeping up behind this attempted coup is the Equatorial Guinea's oil reserves. According to The Chronicle (www.chronicle.co.zw), US giant Exxon Mobil Corp is the biggest oil producer in Equatorial Guinea but other companies operating there include independent oil company Amerada Hess Corp, US Chevron Texaco Corp, Noble Energy Inc, Devon Energy Corp, Houston based Marathon Oil Corp, South Africa’s Engen Africa, Sasol and Nigeria’s atlas Petroleum. This gives a hint as to why the international media has found this so newsworthy. It may have begun as a 'quirky' story, but it has developed into an issue of sovereignty, governance and oil.
ZW News have posted a great Reuters article about about Equatorial Guinea's oil that is also worth a look. Finally as an aside, full points to The Chronicle
for coining the term 'rent-a-coup'.
The question of who instigated this coup plan has barely been raised, except by journal Africa Confidential - this story is only on the front page, so it may move from this adress in the future.
The other issue creeping up behind this attempted coup is the Equatorial Guinea's oil reserves. According to The Chronicle (www.chronicle.co.zw), US giant Exxon Mobil Corp is the biggest oil producer in Equatorial Guinea but other companies operating there include independent oil company Amerada Hess Corp, US Chevron Texaco Corp, Noble Energy Inc, Devon Energy Corp, Houston based Marathon Oil Corp, South Africa’s Engen Africa, Sasol and Nigeria’s atlas Petroleum. This gives a hint as to why the international media has found this so newsworthy. It may have begun as a 'quirky' story, but it has developed into an issue of sovereignty, governance and oil.
ZW News have posted a great Reuters article about about Equatorial Guinea's oil that is also worth a look. Finally as an aside, full points to The Chronicle
for coining the term 'rent-a-coup'.
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