US-Russia battle heats up over alleged arms dealer..'Merchant of Death' denies arming terror

BANGKOK (AP) - U.S. President George W. Bush's last meeting with the prime minister of Thailand was in August, a swan song moment before his departure. Yet he made time to bring up the issue of one man: Viktor Bout, also known as the Merchant of Death.Bout, a Russian businessman who is thought to be the world's most notorious arms dealer, has been held in a Bangkok prison since he was arrested last March after a U.S.-Thai sting operation. The United States is desperate to extradite him for trial to New York, where he has been indicted for allegedly conspiring to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to leftist rebels in Colombia.The Bush administration «wanted the prime minister to understand that this was an issue of importance to us, given that we have a very solid legal case against Viktor Bout,» said Juan C. Zarate, former deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism.Yet Russia is equally keen to get Bout out of Thailand and back to Moscow. After a yearlong tug of war between Russia and the United States, a Thai judge could rule on Bout's fate as soon as next week.Inside the cramped, humid courthouse in Bangkok, the political chess game is on full display. An American Embassy staffer routinely slips notes and whispers advice to the prosecutor, while two Russian Embassy diplomats sit behind Bout, chatting with his wife and mother...morehttp://www.pr-inside.com/us-russia-battle-heats-up-over-alleged-r1116041.htm

'Merchant of Death' denies arming terror

In his first prison interview Viktor Bout, accused of being the world's biggest arms dealer, tells Nick Paton Walsh that he had no links to al-Qaida and should not be extradited to the United States Viktor Bout in a holding cell in Bangkok last week. Photograph: Sukree Sukplang/Reuters Viktor Bout, the Russian accused of being the world's biggest arms dealer, has angrily denied allegations that he supplied weapons to the Taliban and in his first interview for six years with the western media.....more..http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/15/viktor-bout-merchant-of-death