When security officials asked to inspect a chartered Boeing 727 parked at the end of a runway in Harare, Simon Mann, a former SAS and ex-military services contractor, offered them a $10,000 gift instead.

No. They wanted a look at the plane. Barging onboard, they found a small company of rough-looking men, a cache of weapons, additional military equipment and bags of cash — all the makings of first-class coup.