Arrest warrant issued for president’s son

A FRENCH prosecutor has approved an investigator’s request for an international arrest warrant for the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president Teodoro Obiang Nguema on money laundering charges.

Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, widely known as “Teodorin”, is agriculture minister in the small oil-producing central African country.

French judges had earlier requested a warrant for him on suspicion he had bought property in France with public money from Equatorial Guinea. Teodorin has denied wrongdoing.

The judges had also asked for permission from Equatorial Guinea to question Teodorin, but that request has been rejected, Olivier Pardo, an attorney for the government of Equitorial Guinea, said yesterday.

Mr Pardo said the warrant was “totally incomprehensible.” He said: “If you wanted to upset relations between the two countries, this is the way to do it.”