Victor Bout

[Carsten Wiethoff]

From http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-p...10120.html

Viktor Bout, a suspected Russian arms dealer, has been extradited to the United States after Thai authorities cleared the transfer days before his detention was due to expire.
Bout was flown out of Bangkok on a special US jet on Tuesday, Thai police said.
He faces charges of terrorism linked to the trafficking of weapons to conflict zones in Africa, South America and the Middle East.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thailand's prime minister, told reporters earlier on Tuesday that his cabinet had agreed to uphold a court decision to allow Bout, alleged to be one of the world's biggest arms dealers, to be sent the US to face trial.
The 43-year-old former Soviet air force officer, dubbed the "Merchant of Death", was arrested in Bangkok in March 2008 as part of a US-led sting operation.
Bout runs a network of air cargo companies in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and the US.
US officials allege Bout has used this network to move weapons around the world since the 1990s.
According to the UN and the US treasury department, he has sold or brokered arms that have helped fuel wars in Afghanistan, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan.
He is accused of conspiring to sell weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), that country's largest rebel group and considered a terrorist organisation by the US.
Bout has denied the allegations against him, and his dentention has been a bone of contention between US and Russian authorities.
Moscow has repeatedly suggested that proceedings against Bout are politically motivated and has called for him to be repatriated.
Moscow's aggressive lobbying for his release has fuelled speculation he was receiving protection from Russian authorities who had made no apparent attempt over the years to interfere in his alleged operations.
Bout, who was inspiration for Nicholas Cage's character in the 2005 movie Lord of War, has been held in a Thai maximum-security prison since his arrest.