|
Bangkok: International arms dealer Viktor Bout was arrested in a US sting operation in Thailand but has told police he was in Bangkok for a holiday and not to transact any weapons business.
Thai officials said they may file terrorism charges against the reputed Russian arms dealer, and a war crimes prosecutor expressed a desire to try the man dubbed the "Merchant of Death" for fuelling African civil wars.
Bout, 41, was detained on Thursday at a hotel in Bangkok, where American officials said he had come to finalise a deal to sell and transport portable surface-to-air missiles and other weapons to men he believed represented the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc.
But the multimillion-dollar deal he allegedly thought he had with Colombian rebels was really the culmination of an elaborate four-month sting operation concocted by the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
Handcuffed and expressionless, the Russian was paraded before journalists on Friday at a Thai police news conference where he refused to answer questions. He has previously denied charges that he sells illicit arms.
Thai authorities received court permission Saturday to continue to keep Bout in custody. Suspects may be held for up to 84 days without being formally charged for trial.
If convicted, Bout would face 10 years in prison on the potential Thai charge, and 15 years in the US.
|
