'Merchant of death' tells Thai court he was framed by US

Alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in Bangkok, Thailand

A SUSPECTED Russian arms dealer appeared in a Thai court yesterday, shackled and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, and claimed he had been framed by the US to damage Russia's relations with Thailand.

Viktor Bout (41), a former Soviet airforce officer who faces charges of conspiring to sell weapons to terrorists, is fighting extradition to the US.

He was arrested in a Bangkok hotel in March after a "sting" operation mounted by the US drug enforcement administration and including the Thai police.

According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Mr Bout told the court: "I was framed." He added: "I have done no crime, I have done no terrorist act. They have framed me because the US does not want relations between Thailand and Russia to develop more."

The US is seeking his extradition to face charges before a New York court, along with an alleged accomplice, Andrew Smulian.

Among other things, it is alleged that they conspired to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), to be used to kill Americans in the South American state.

The weapons he allegedly planned to sell included surface-to-air missile systems, armour-piercing rocket launchers, AK-47 automatic rifles, anti-personnel landmines, plastic explosives and unmanned aerial vehicles. He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The US indictment claims he assembled a fleet of cargo aircraft capable of transporting weapons and military equipment around the world, but used an international network of front companies that often delivered lawful goods.

According to AFP, when asked by his lawyer if he had sold arms to Farc, he denied involvement: "It's not true. I have never met anyone from Farc. I have never been to Colombia."

Mr Bout is often dubbed the "merchant of death" after he was so called by a British minister for Africa, Peter Hain, in 2000. - ( Financial Times service)