<P> Four of the mercenary soldiers were left behind and were convicted of treason in the Seychelles . </P> <P> In January 1982 an International Commission, appointed by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 496, inquired into the attempted coup d'état . The UN report concluded that South African defence agencies were involved, including supplying weapons and ammunition . </P> <P> Being associated with the South African security services, the hijackers were initially charged with kidnapping, which carries no minimum sentence, but this was upgraded to hijacking after international pressure . </P> <P> Hoare was found guilty of airplane hijacking and sentenced to ten years in prison . In total, 42 of the 43 alleged hijackers were convicted . One of the mercenaries, an American veteran of the Vietnam War, was found not guilty of hijacking, as he had been seriously wounded in the firefight and was loaded aboard while sedated . Many of the other mercenaries, including the youngest of the group, Raif St Clair, were quietly released after three months in their own prison wing . </P>

Guns for hire - mercenaries in the congo