Major arms suspect flown to US as Russians protest

WASHINGTON — Accused Russian arms merchant Viktor Bout was flown from Bangkok toward New York Tuesday in a chartered U.S. plane, extradited in manacles despite a final outraged push by Russian diplomats to persuade Thailand to release him instead, current and former American officials said.

The extradition followed a bruising diplomatic tug-of-war between the U.S. and Russia that shows no sign of letting up and could jeopardize cooperation on arms control, nuclear weapons curbs and the war in Afghanistan.

A former Soviet military officer and air cargo executive nicknamed the "Merchant of Death" by critics, Bout (pronounced 'boot') had been accused of arming failed states and insurgents across the Third World since the 1990s, but he had never previously been arrested.

Thailand's government ordered Bout, 43, placed in American custody Tuesday, 20 months after his March 2008 arrest in a sting operation led by U.S. narcotics agents. Since then, the wealthy businessman — estimated by the U.S. to be worth $6 billion — has been in a Thai jail.

In Moscow, Bout's lawyer and brother voiced alarm that American officials would pressure him into incriminating himself or others. The attorney, Viktor Burobin, said the U.S. had already offered Bout better treatment in custody in exchange for his cooperation. And Sergei Bout, a key figure in his brother's global air cargo empire, warned that the U.S. would "make some kind of injections to get whatever they want out of him."

Bout faces U.S. charges related to his alleged gunrunning empire — a prosecution that American officials describe as a milestone in international efforts to cripple the flow of illicit weapons that fuel conflicts around the world.

The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted with strong words after Bout was hustled from a Thai prison to a waiting jet. Russia branded the extradition "unlawful," prompted by "unprecedented political pressure from the USA."

Thai police commandoes, clad in combat gear and masked by balaclavas, accompanied Bout to the tarmac at Bangkok's Don Muang airport. There, several Westerners wearing U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration jackets shepherded him onto the chartered jet.

Bout wore a bulletproof vest over a blue track suit. His wife, Alla, had rushed to the prison with his Thai lawyer but was not able to see him before his departure.

In New York, a law enforcement official said Bout was expected to arrive there after 10 p.m.

The decision by Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's cabinet came just four days before Nov. 20, when Bout would have been freed under an earlier court ruling.