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Wife Wants "Merchant Of Death" And His Mustache Free
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 22, 2010
Modified Nov 22, 2010
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DEA
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 22, 2010
Modified Nov 22, 2010
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Viktor Bout, the Russian national accused of selling arms to rogue nations, is cooling his heels at a Manhattan detention center, after pleading not guilty to terrorism charges. But his wife is trying to get him out by suing Thailand! Alla Bout said, "However absurd it might sound to you, we will be trying to make the Thai government — which released Viktor to the hands of the American authorities — bring him back from the United States to Thailand and release him."
Bout was extradited from Bangkok to the U.S. last week, two years after being ensnared in a U.S. sting where Bout allegedly tried to sell undercover agents "more than 700 surface-to-air missiles, 5,000 AK47 assault rifles, anti-personnel land mines, C4 explosives and ultra-light planes that could be fitted out with grenade launchers." The Post reports, "Thailand extradited Bout following a protracted legal battle, during which Moscow and Washington are believed to have pressured the Thai government over the outcome. Alla Bout said Monday she would take legal actions against the Thai government, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and other officials were responsible for turning over her husband to U.S. authorities."
60 Minutes had a segment about Bout last night: Former DEA chief of operations Michael Braun said, "Viktor Bout in my eyes is one of the most dangerous men on the face of the Earth," and described the so-called "Merchant of Death"'s in essentially weaponizing in Africa in the 1980s, saying he sold "AK-47s not by the thousands but by the tens of thousands... He transformed these young adolescent warriors into insidious, mindless, maniacally driven killing machines that operated with assembly line efficiencies."
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Alla Bout
arms dealer
merchant of death
mustache
terrorism
viktor bout
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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