(Zimbabwe) Mystery of seized jet deepens

The mystery over 64 foreigners being held in Zimbabwe as
suspected mercenaries deepened yesterday when Equatorial
Guinea said it had arrested a 15-strong "advance party" from the
same group.

Zimbabwe put its army on alert after Sunday's seizure of a
US-registered Boeing-727 cargo plane which government officials
said was carrying the suspected mercenaries and military material.

...

Officials in the tiny west African state of Equatorial Guinea said they
were holding 15 suspected mercenaries believed to be linked to the
same operation. "It was connected with that plane in Zimbabwe;
they were the advance party of that group," said the information
minister, Agustin Nse Nfumu.

You can google up various others along this line.

Guardian UK

Was it registered to the CIA?

http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh&ArticleId=509522

HARARE, Zimbabwe The mystery over 64 foreigners being held in Zimbabwe as suspected mercenaries deepened Tuesday when Equatorial Guinea said it had arrested a 15-person "advance party" from the same group.

Zimbabwe put its army on full alert following the seizure Sunday of a U.S.-$ registered 727- 100 cargo plane that government officials said was carrying the suspected mercenaries and a cargo of military materiel.

<snip>

Officials in Equatorial Guinea said they had arrested 15 suspected mercenaries believed to be linked to the same operation.

The arrests came amid speculation among exiled opposition politicians that a coup was being planned.

...more...

I do like this line in yours:

The arrests came amid speculation among exiled opposition
politicians that a coup was being planned.

I'm sort of wondering if this will queer out relations with
the current government of EG.

a lot of attention to Equatorial Guinea, but I guess it's time for me to bone up.

I don't know how any of our relationships with any foreign countries have held up with this mal-administration in charge.

There is no foreign policy (imho) that doesn't include overthrowing democratically elected leaders or any other people that are on a very long list that seems to be held by the BFEE and its minions (of which they are numerous and many and mostly criminal).

Thanks for staying up with this topic. I do think it is important.

I read a Harper's article about it a while back.
No danger of overthrowing anyone democratically elected there.
I was interested because of the little boondoggle in Zimbabwe.
I am rooting for the end of the American Empire so that maybe
we can once again start to take care of our own people, so I
look for signs of incompetence and failure.

very rightist as of a few years and when the NYT/WP partnership broke up.
They were never leftist but used to give a reasonable overview of world news.
Used to read the IHT on the Metro going to work and Le Monde on the way home.

one recently so now it just echoes the neoliberal editorial slant of the Times. Right?

I guess I could just refresh my memory by Googling.

in Africa? I remember there were reports of a 727 that disappeared and some speculated it could have been stolen by terrorists. Is this the same 727?

"2 Million Cap Doesn't Apply"
Lender Liability News (10/31/03) Vol. 16, No. 12,
U.S. District Judge Kathryn H. Vratil has ruled that Dodson Aviation is liable for the full amount of its loan from GE Capital. GE Capital sued Dodson Aviation and its owners for breach of contract after Dodson failed to make three consecutive monthly payments on its loan for a $2 million Hawker aircraft. The lender asked to recover $2.75 million from the owners of Dodson Aviation, which filed for bankruptcy shortly after the suit was filed, and argued that the owners of the company were personally liable for the amount of the loan's outstanding balance. Dodson Aviation's owners argued that they were liable for only $2 million, or the credit cap in the initial loan agreement. The judge ruled against Dodson Aviation's owners, saying they must pay the full $2.75 million owed to GE Capital as laid out in the guaranty and security agreement the company had with the lender.
(Link to Source/Publication)

http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:FchIxVcd2dAJ:www.elaonline.com/News/MembersOnly/IndNewsWkly/110303.htm+Dodson+Aviation&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

http://www.niza.nl/uk/campaigns/diamonds/docs/sierra_leone/index.html
Here's the section that caught my eye (italics added) ...

187. Fred Rindel a retired officer of the South African Defence Force and former Defence Attaché to the United States, has played a key role in the training of a Liberian anti-terrorist unit, consisting of Liberian soldiers and groups of foreigners, including citizens of Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Niger and The Gambia.
188. The panel interviewed Mr Rindel extensively. Rindel was contracted as a security consultant by President Charles Taylor in September 1998, and training started in November 1998. The contract included consultancy services and strategic advice to convert Charles Taylor's former rebel militia into a professional unit. The Anti-Terrorist Unit is used in Liberia to protect government buildings, the Executive Mansion and the international airport, and to provide VIP Security and the protection of foreign embassies. The numbers trained were approximately 1200. Because of negative media attention, Rindel cancelled his contract in Liberia in August 2000.

189. In 1998, ECOMOG identified a plane, registration number N71RD, owned by a South African company, Dodson Aviation Maintenance and Spare Parts, as having carried weapons to Robertsfield in September of that year. The plane is a Gulfstream 14-seater business jet that cannot be used for arms transport, but there are other relevant connections. Fred Rindel was the owner of Dodson. The company was closed on 31 December 1998, but during the period under investigation, the plane was leased to, and operated by, Greater Holdings (Liberia) Ltd., a company with gold and diamond concessions in Liberia. The plane was used for the transport of the Greater Holdings' staff to and from Liberia.

Mr. Rindel's name came up earlier in 2000 in testimony at the UN Security Council by then-UN Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke in a discussion of Sierra Leone (italics added) ...

http://www.un.int/usa/00_104.htm

In regard to arms trafficking to Sierra Leone, Mr. Chairman, we remain concerned and I would like to add a few more items to the record. The principal Africa countries involved in arms trafficking to the RUF - though they deny it - include Burkina Faso, Liberia and Libya.
In 1999, planes landed in Ouagadougou, allegedly coming from the Ukraine, with several tons of small arms and ammunition. This incident, which the Ukrainians say has stopped, is one that we believe should be brought to the attention of your committee.

In regard to trafficking, arms brokers have played a vital role in keeping the RUF supplied with weapons and other military materiel. A well-known arms and diamond dealer in Sierra Leone, Zief Morganstein, in July 1999 arranged for a Continental Aviation-based charter out of Dakar to fly a shipment of small arms from Bulgaria to Sierra Leone. Last year the RUF received 68 tons of weapons from Bulgaria, which Morganstein may have helped arrange. There have been other connections between former government officials from South Africa during its Apartheid regime who now operate as private individuals, including Fred Rindel, the South African Defense Attache in Washington, who now works as a security consultant in Liberia and trains Liberian troops and RUF insurgents. There are other charges about other businessmen who are reportedly helping the Sierra Leone government coming from various countries around the world.