( CNN ) -- British mercenary Simon Mann has been jailed for 34 years for his part in plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea . Simon Mann was arrested after a plane carrying him and about 60 mercenaries landed in Zimbabwe . The former British military officer confessed to trying to topple long-time ruler Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo - but denied being the plot 's leader . The goal of the plot was to install exiled opposition leader Severo Moto who is currently in Spain awaiting trial on charges of arms trafficking , and to gain access to the former Spanish colony 's oil wealth . During the trial , Mann testified he was a `` junior '' in the organization which plotted to overthrow the tiny west African country 's president in 2004 , and that Lebanese businessman Eli Calil was the man in charge . `` Eli Calil was known as the cardinal -- the cardinal -- which I think says it all , '' Mann told the court . Watch Mann 's reaction to his sentences » . Footage of the proceedings was broadcast by Britain 's Channel 4 News , which says it has the only camera in the courtroom . As Mann 's trial progressed last month , South Africa rejected Mann 's allegation that it had given its tacit support for the coup plot . `` South Africa will never , tacitly or expressly , support the use of mercenaries to bring about fundamental political changes in any country in our continent or elsewhere in the world including Equatorial Guinea , '' the government said in a statement . Mann testified that several governments , including Spain and the United States , welcomed the idea of a coup . Mann is a former British army commando who was arrested four years ago after a plane carrying him and about 60 mercenaries landed in Zimbabwe . The government of Equatorial Guinea said the group was on its way to overthrow its president . Mann said at the time they were going to guard a diamond mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo . A Zimbabwe court convicted Mann of trying to buy weapons illegally . He served four years in jail there before being extradited to Equatorial Guinea 's capital of Malabo earlier this year to face charges of leading an abortive coup . Mann testified that his former friend Mark Thatcher -- the son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher -- was a main partner in the plot . Thatcher was arrested along with Mann in 2004 , and he pleaded guilty in South Africa the following year to unwittingly bankrolling the plot . He escaped jail time by paying a fine . Thatcher admitted giving $ 275,000 toward the charter of a helicopter , saying he thought was for commercial purposes and discovered only later it was to be used by mercenaries . But Mann said Thatcher paid $ 350,000 for a helicopter and a plane which he knew would be used in the plot , and that he attended meetings about the plan with Calil in London . Calil , Mann said , initially asked him to assassinate President Obiang and talked about the possibility of staging a guerrilla war . Mann testified he refused both requests , considering them unethical , but he did agree to help stage a coup . Though he said Thatcher was a top figure in the plot , Mann testified that even Thatcher was under Calil in the group 's hierarchy . Mann , appearing in a gray prison outfit , emphasized that he was not the man in charge . Mann 's defense lawyer took 45 minutes to question Mann , Channel 4 reported , in contrast to the four hours of prosecution questioning Mann faced . Mann smiled often in the footage shown by Channel 4 and even stuck his tongue out playfully at the camera . After his stint in the British army , Mann was affiliated with the South Africa-based mercenary firm Executive Outcomes . The firm described itself on its now-defunct Web site as a `` military advisory service '' that had played a `` crucial '' role in ending two African civil wars .
NEW : Spanish mercenary Mann jailed for plotting a Equatorial Guinea coup . Mann testified he was `` junior '' in organization that plotted attempted coup . Mark Thatcher implicated former friend Mann in 34 years plot during testimony .