Equatorial Guinea said it was willing to guarantee...

Equatorial Guinea said it was willing to guarantee that it would not use the death penalty if it were allowed to extradite Sir Mark Thatcher and other British citizens it accused of involvement in a coup plot, the country"s Attorney- General, Jose Olo Obono, said. Sir Mark, freed from house arrest in Cape Town was is being investigated under South Africa"s
Foreign Military Assistance Act for his alleged part in financing a botched coup against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema's regime in March 2004.
Equatorial Guinea officials were due to arrive in South Africa, and may be allowed to question him, but the west African nation wants Sir Mark and other Britons, including Simon Mann, an ex-SAS officer facing sentence in Zimbabwe on arms charges, Greg Wales, a British businessman, and Ely Calil, a London-based oil trader accused of masterminding the plot, to face its own justice. Sir Mark's alleged fellow conspirators had far more reason to fear a request for them to face charges there.
Apart from President Obiang's dismal human rights record, British and South African law prevents extradition to countries that have capital punishment, and Mr Obono demanded the death sentence for Nick du Toit, one of eight South Africans on trial in Malabo on charges of abetting the coup attempt.
But the Attorney-General said: "South Africa would simply try them [the British residents] in connection with illegal arms trading. We accuse them of crimes against the life of our head of state, of compromising the peace and independence of our country.
We have a better claim. If we give an undertaking to the British Government that they will not be executed, then Britain should be willing to extradite them here."