Ely Calil

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Ely Calil (born 8th December 1945 in Kano, Nigeria) is a Lebanese businessman holding British citizenship. He made big success negotiating oil mining deals in Nigeria in the 1980s. He is a father of five (including actor George Calil), currently living in Chelsea, London.

[edit] Business on the edge of legality

In 2004 he has been charged as one of the fixers and financiers in the background of a planned coup-d'etat in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. Calil is currently sought by courts both in Equatorial Guinea and South Africa. He is generally believed to be the character nicknamed Smelly in the prison notes of Simon Mann, the leading mercenary of the planned coup-d'etat.

In 2002 he was arrested in Paris in connection with the Elf Aquitaine bribery scandal, however never formally charged.

[edit] External links

• The shadowy Mr Calil accused of being the £100m mastermind behind failed coup that landed Simon Mann in jail (14th March 2008)
• Profile: Ely Calil: Smelly, the missing essence in a coup plot
• Mandelson rented flat from oil tycoon in coup claim
• Mark Thatcher & Simon Mann's African coup - The Crime library