FOLLOW UPS

BEHOLD THE MANN
Jailed mercenary Simon Mann (see article by Merrick in CW Newsletter 22) is back in the news, 'singing like a canary' (BBC news) and naming the business backers of the coup attempt which he is on trial for in Equatorial Guinea. The main figures named were the well-connected baronet Mark Thatcher and UK millionaire Eli Calil.[1] Mark Thatcher has already received a suspended sentence in South Africa for his involvement, but the confirmation of Calil's involvement adds weight to telephone records, published in the Guardian in 2004, which showed contacts between Thatcher, Calil, disgraced author and politician Jeffrey Archer, and businessman Greg Wales.[2] Many thanks to Merrick for pulling these threads together for us again.

PATHFINDER FOUND OUT
The government's 'pathfinder' housing renewal scheme, exposed in Corporate Watch as being more about demolishing than about renewing (see CW Newsletter 23) has recently been condemned in similar language by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, as 'more successful at demolishing old homes than at building new ones'.[3]

References
[1] Author unknown, 'Mann sentenced for E Guinea plot', BBC Online 7th July 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7493717.stm, accessed 07/07/08
[2] David Pallister, Jamie Wilson and David Leigh, 'New Archer link to coup plot alleged', The Guardian, 13/10/04
[3]Author unknown, 'Housing project scheme criticised', BBC Online, 3rd July 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7486774.stm, accessed 07/07/08