Oh my, oh my - even the neighbors on getting in on the issue...
The latest - below..
But - confirmed that they departed from Pietersberg civil, after clearing customs.
Equatorial Guinea nabs 15 from mystery plane
March 09 2004 at 05:48PM
By Cris Chinaka
Harare - The mystery over 64 foreigners being held in Zimbabwe as suspected mercenaries deepened on Tuesday when Equatorial Guinea said it had arrested a 15-strong "advance party" from the same group.
Zimbabwe put its army on full alert following Sunday's seizure of a United States-registered 727-100 cargo plane that government officials said was carrying the suspected mercenaries and a cargo of military material.
The operator of the plane said on Tuesday the men had been bound for the Democratic Republic of Congo to work as security guards on mines, and the aircraft had only stopped in Zimbabwe to pick up mining equipment.
Charles Burrows, a senior executive of Logo Logistics Ltd, said most of the people on board were South African and had military experience, but were on contract to four mining companies in Congo.
Zimbabwean officials said the plane - which left South Africa legally on Sunday with a flight plan for Harare - "made a false declaration of cargo and crew" and its passengers had been detained pending investigations.
Officials in the tiny West African nation of Equatorial Guinea said they had arrested 15 suspected mercenaries believed to be linked to the same operation.
"Some 15 mercenaries have been arrested here in Equatorial Guinea and it was connected with that plane in Zimbabwe. They were the advance party of that group," Information Minister Agustin Nse Nfumu told reporters.
The arrests come amid speculation among exiled opposition politicians that a coup was in the offing.
Burrows, whose company is registered in Britain's Channel Islands, denied any connection between the group detained in Harare and those arrested in Equatorial Guinea.
"I haven't the foggiest idea of what they're talking about," he said by telephone from London.
In Zimbabwe, officials said the detained plane was carrying "military material". State television footage of the plane's cargo showed sleeping bags, satellite phones, knives, bolt cutters and green camouflage uniforms, but no firearms.
"We have mobilised all our security organs to get to the bottom of this case," said a government official who declined to be identified, adding that the army had been put on high alert.
South African air traffic control said the plane had left Johannesburg on Sunday and made a stop at Wonderboom airport near Pretoria. From there it flew to the northern South African town of Polokwane, where it took on some 63 passengers and completed departure formalities.
Craig Partridge, a spokesperson for South Africa's Air Traffic and Navigation Services, said the plane had filed full flight plans showing it would travel to Harare and from there to Bujumbura in Burundi on Congo's eastern border.
Zimbabwe officials said no formal charges had yet been laid against the passengers. Zimbabwe's cabinet was expected to be briefed on the situation at its weekly meeting on Tuesday.