Equatorial Guinea's state prosecutor said today he would ask South Africa to extradite Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, to answer accusations he helped fund a coup plot.
Prosecutor Jose Olo Obono's comments at a news conference contradicted a statement earlier this week by Second Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Mangue Obama Nfube, who said the government would await Mr Thatcher's appearance in court in South Africa next week before making any decision.
It was not the first time that the prosecutor's office and the government have differed over whether to ask for Mr Thatcher's extradition.
Mr Thatcher was named as one of several financiers of a scheme to oust the oil-rich country's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in court documents read out this week at the trial of 16 suspected mercenaries accused of involvement in the plot.
Prosecutors say he provided $275,000, although Mr Thatcher denies any involvement.
Mr Obono said the country planned to ask for the extradition of all those based abroad believed to have a significant role in the alleged plot. He named Mr Thatcher and Lebanese oil tycoon Eli Calil, among others.
"We are close to asking for Mark Thatcher's extradition," he told reporters in the capital Malabo.
Asked exactly when the request would be made, he replied: "We cannot say if it will happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow but we are in the process of asking for it."