BANGKOK, Aug. 20: A court in Thailand on Friday ruled that Viktor Bout, accused of being one of the world's most prolific arms dealers, will be extradited to the United States, according to news reports.
The ruling by a Thai appeals court states that the extradition must take place within three months. The ruling overturns a lower-court ruling and adds a new chapter in a tug of war between the United States and Russia over Bout that has played out in Thailand's legal system.
Bout is accused of agreeing to sell millions of dollars worth weapons to US agents who posed as Colombian rebels intending to kill American pilots patrolling in the drug war. Bout was arrested in March 2008 as part of a US-led sting operation.
Bout's career is said to have contributed to the fictional arms trafficker in film Lord of War.