The Pretoria-based wife of one of the South African mercenaries pardoned for plotting to topple the government of Equatorial Guinea, had not been informed of his impending release on Tuesday.

When contacted by Sapa, Lucia Alerson, the wife of George Alerson, who had been locked up in one of Africa's most notorious prisons since 2004, had no idea of the amnesty announcement made on Tuesday.

"How is he? Do you know? Is he in good health?" she asked anxiously, after repeatedly questioning the source of the news.

"I really don't know," she told Sapa, after being told that President Teodoro Obiang Nguema on Monday gave the five men "a full pardon for humanitarian reasons" for the 2004 coup plot, according to international news agencies.

"Oh, okay... that's nice," she eventually said in broken English, before asking: "Where is he now?"

Lucia, who has eight children, said she had had a few phone conversations with him during his imprisonment, but was not sure how he was doing.

"It has been hard without him. Especially now that life is so expensive."

International Relations and Co-operation department spokeswoman Nomfanelo Kota could not be reached immediately to confirm the announcement out of Equatorial Guinea.

The Associated Press, quoting the country's chief judge, reported on Tuesday that British coup plotter Simon Mann and four South African mercenaries had been pardoned.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Obono Olo said Mann and his accomplices would be freed Tuesday morning and flown home.

The men were convicted in a trial implicating Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, as the financier of the plot to overthrow the oil-rich country.

The South Africans involved were Nick du Toit, Sergio Cardoso, Jose Sundays and George Alerson.

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