Malabo - The west African state of Equatorial Guinea said on Wednesday it had thwarted "a coup" in late December mounted by mercenaries who sought to attack President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

In a statement read on public radio, Security Minister Nicolas Obama Nchama said "mercenaries... were recruited by Equatorial Guinean militants from certain radical opposition parties with the support of certain powers."

The plot had been prevented thanks to an operation carried out "in collaboration with the Cameroon security services," he said.