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Question - What do you do when there is a potential Sadaam and the country has oil? I agree with what he did.

I for one do not agree with what he did. For one it must be causing additional stress to his (great) mom, who is not in a state of health that can easily handle the stress of not knowing what was to become of her son. Secondly coup de tats almost always ends up with a result that was far worse than what was there before. Just ask the CIA and the coup 'experiments' they tried during the Cold War. IT is a rare thing for a coup to work well in the mid to long term. Now imagine the messes that would be created by private coup attempts! There is nothing good in what this guy did.

Just because a nation 'has oil' and a 'potential Saddam' doesn't mean private citizens should be bankrolling ill-thought coup de tat attempts (so ill thought that they could even commence the coup before getting caught).

Sir Mark Thatcher has pleaded guilty in South Africa over his part in an alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea.

As much as I like his mother, I hope this fargin' bastage gets some serious jail time. I was involved in a really good chance to help out the people of this tiny nation, right up until his coup attempt that is...

It seems that the former finance minister of Equatorial Guinea, Manute Bol Ndukwe Kalu, or "Fred" as he was known to his friends and family, had safeguarded billions of dollars in the First National Bank of Malabo following the disputed national elections in 2000. President Obian Nguem Mbasogo reportedly did not allow for an entirely free and honest election, and when Fred started to talk to U.N. observers, his life and those of his family were threatened.

After Fred's dissapearance, his daughter, Sade Moto Mfoto Kalu, or "Judy" as she's affectionately known, sent out a worldwide plea via the Internet to help her save the country's last few billions before President Mbasogo could lay claim to them. I sent Judy my U.S. bank account information last fall as requested, wanting desperately to help these poor people in any way I could, only to read in horror the news of Mark Thatcher's coup attempt. Some may call me optimistic and naive for still believing that the funds will arrive any day, but I really hope they do since for some reason my direct deposit doesn't seem to be working as evidenced by the fact that I'm now six months behind on my mortgage and car payments and my account balance is constantly reading $0. But please don't misunderstand me by thinking I would use these funds for personal reasons; I've promised Judy that I will pay back any money that I may have to borrow.

And no, this was not a scam - those bogus e-mails originate in Nigeria, not Equatorial Guinea. They're totally different countries.