Suspected Russian arms chief extradited

SUSPECTED Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout has been extradited from Thailand to the USA on terrorism charges.

The move saw Washington win a tug of war with Moscow over whether to send him to stand trial or let him go home.

The Thai cabinet approved Bout's extradition after a long legal battle, and police said the 43-year-old was put aboard a plane in Bangkok heading for the US at about 1.30pm local time on Tuesday, yesterday guarded by eight US officials.

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Bout, a former Soviet air force officer who is reputed to have been one of the world's most prolific arms dealers, was arrested at a Bangkok luxury hotel in March 2008 as part of a sting led by US agents.

He has allegedly supplied weapons that fuelled civil wars in South America, the Middle East and Africa, with clients including Liberia's Charles Taylor and Libya and both sides in Angola's civil war.

The head of a lucrative air transport empire, Bout had long evaded United Nations and US sanctions aimed at blocking his financial activities and restricting his travel. He claims he ran a legitimate business and never sold weapons, and fought hard to avoid extradition.

"This is an unequivocally political decision, lobbied by the US government," Bout's wife Alla said in Bangkok. "It has no legal basis whatsoever."

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Russia had made strong public statements against Bout's extradition, and privately, both Moscow and Washington were reported to be exerting heavy pressure on the Thai government.

Russia says Bout is an innocent businessman and wants him in Moscow. Experts say Bout knows details of Russia's military and intelligence operations and that Moscow does not want him going on trial in the US.

A Thai court in August of 2009 originally rejected Washington's request for Bout's extradition on terrorism-related charges. After that ruling was reversed by an appeals court in August this year, the US moved to get him out quickly, sending a special plane to stand by.