UK accuses Eq. Guinea elite of stealing oil wealth

LONDON Dec 7 (Reuters) - Equatorial Guinea's leadership is stealing the small African nation's oil wealth while the majority of its population lives in poverty, Britain said on Wednesday.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has ruled Equatorial Guinea for more than three decades, the longest serving African leader after the demise of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, with rights groups labelling his regime one of the world's most corrupt.

The country prodces about 240,000 barrels of oil per day.

"Although Equatorial Guinea has one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa, nearly 70 percent of the population live in deep poverty. Most of this per capita income goes to the president and his family and cronies," Britain's International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell told parliament.

"It is quite simply a disgrace that the high level of oil wealth is stolen for the corrupt and personal use of an unaccountable and self-serving elite."

Global graft watchdog Transparency International has ranked the former Spanish colony 168th out of 178 countries for its efforts in tackling corruption.

The U.S. Justice Department said in October it was looking to seize assets worth more than $70 million from Obiang's son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, including a $30 million home in Malibu. (Reporting by Matt Falloon; editing by Andrew Roche)