Alleged Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout is escorted by Thai police commandos as he arrives at Don muang airport in Bangkok. Thailand extradited accused Bout to the US to face terrorism charges, siding with Washington in a tug of war with Moscow over whether to send him to stand trial or let him go home. Photo: Reuters
Alleged Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout is escorted by Thai police commandos as he arrives at Don muang airport in Bangkok. Thailand extradited accused Bout to the US to face terrorism charges, siding with Washington in a tug of war with Moscow over whether to send him to stand trial or let him go home. Photo: Reuters
Security personnel from the US smile as they leave the tarmac of the private jet terminal in Bangkok after suspected Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout was flown out from there. Bout was flown out of Thailand on a charter flight to the United States following the Thai government's decision to extradite him. Photo: Reuters
Alleged Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout is escorted by Thai police commandos as he arrives at Don muang airport in Bangkok. Thailand extradited accused Bout to the US to face terrorism charges, siding with Washington in a tug of war with Moscow over whether to send him to stand trial or let him go home. Photo: AP
Security personnel escort suspected Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout to a plane on the tarmac of Don Muang airport in Bangkok. Thailand extradited accused Bout to the US to face terrorism charges, siding with Washington in a tug of war with Moscow over whether to send him to stand trial or let him go home. Photo: Reuters
Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is escorted by members of a special police unit after a hearing at a criminal court in Bangkok. Thailand extradited accused Bout to the US to face terrorism charges, siding with Washington in a tug of war with Moscow over whether to send him to stand trial or let him go home. Photo: Reuters
Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout waits in a holding cell after arriving at a courthouse in Bangkok. Thailand extradited accused Bout to the US to face terrorism charges, siding with Washington in a tug of war with Moscow over whether to send him to stand trial or let him go home. Photo: Reuters
Armed commando officers are on a watch as the motorcade of accused Russian arms dealer arrived at Don Muang Airport in Bangkok. Thailand extradited accused Bout to the US to face terrorism charges, siding with Washington in a tug of war with Moscow over whether to send him to stand trial or let him go home. Photo: AP
Alla Bout, wife of suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, holds food as she arrives at Bangkwang Central Prison in Nonthaburi province, on the outskirts of Bangkok. Viktor Bout was flown out of Thailand on a charter flight to the United States following the Thai government's decision to extradite him. Photo: Reuters
Alleged Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout is escorted by Thai police commandos as he arrives at Don muang airport in Bangkok. Thailand extradited accused Bout to the US to face terrorism charges, siding with Washington in a tug of war with Moscow over whether to send him to stand trial or let him go home. Photo: AP
With tight security and the flak jacket on, Viktor Bout a suspected Russian arms dealer, leaves the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand extradited accused Bout to the US to face terrorism charges, siding with Washington in a tug of war with Moscow over whether to send him to stand trial or let him go home. Photo: AP
Motorcade, believed to carry suspected Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout, leaves from Bangkwan central Prison in Nonthburi province to Don Muang airport. Thailand extradited accused Bout to the US to face terrorism charges, siding with Washington in a tug of war with Moscow over whether to send him to stand trial or let him go home. Photo: AP
An armed guard orders motorists to clear out the way outside Bangkwang Central Prison in Nonthaburi province, on the outskirts of Bangkok. Thailand extradited accused Bout to the US to face terrorism charges, siding with Washington in a tug of war with Moscow over whether to send him to stand trial or let him go home. Photo: Reuters
Alleged Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout is escorted by Thai police commandos as he arrives at Don muang airport in Bangkok. Thailand extradited accused Bout to the US to face terrorism charges, siding with Washington in a tug of war with Moscow over whether to send him to stand trial or let him go home. Photo: Reuters
Published Nov 16, 2010
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Thailand extradited on Tuesday suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to the United States to face terrorism charges, ending a two-year wrangle between the former Cold War foes. The 43-year-old former Soviet air force officer, dubbed the "Merchant of Death", was flown out of Bangkok on a small, chartered US aircraft shortly after Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his cabinet cleared the extradition. Bout had been fighting extradition since his March 2008 arrest in Bangkok in a US-led sting operation.
In a surprise move, the Thai cabinet officially acknowledged the US extradition request, clearing the last hurdle for Bout's departure to face trial in a US court.
