MALABO, Equatorial Guinea (AP) — A British coup-plotter who has been freed in Equatorial Guinea says he is grateful for being pardoned by the government and regrets his role in the affair.

Simon Mann was released from prison Tuesday along with four South African mercenaries. They were given a presidential pardon for their part in a foreign-bankrolled conspiracy to overthrow the government and take over the country's oil riches.

Mann says he regrets what happened in 2004. "It was wrong and I am happy that we did not succeed," Mann said of the coup plot after his release.

Mann testified in court that U.S. and European governments knew of the plan in advance and welcomed it as did international oil companies operating in the Central African nation.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Equatorial Guinea freed a British coup-plotter and four South African mercenaries Tuesday after a presidential pardon for their foreign-bankrolled conspiracy to overthrow the government and take over the country's oil riches.

In a spectacular trial last year, Simon Mann testified that U.S. and European governments knew of the plan in advance and welcomed it as did international oil companies operating in the Central African nation, which is the continent's No. 3 oil producer.

His testimony also implicated the son of former British Premier Margaret Thatcher as chief bankroller, which Mark Thatcher denied.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Jose Obono Olo told The Associated Press Tuesday that President Teodoro Obiang Nguema had granted the five men full pardons for the 2004 coup plot. Information Minister Geronimo Osa said they will never be allowed to return to the country.

Obono, who was the attorney general who prosecuted the coup plotters, denied rumors that Mann was unwell and that any pressure had been brought by foreign governments.

But a statement on the Ministry of Information Web site noted that Mann and the others were being freed "with the hope that the accused return to their families and receive appropriate medical treatment according to their age and health." It said the Ministry of Justice, Culture and Prisons proposed the pardon to the president, who granted "compassionate forgiveness."

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