BANGKOK: Thailand said Wednesday that the extradition to the United States of an alleged Russian arms dealer dubbed the "Merchant of Death" has been delayed because of legal complications.
Police had said on Tuesday that Viktor Bout, who faces terrorism charges, would be escorted from jail on Wednesday by 50 commandos to a Bangkok airport, where US authorities have sent a private jet to fly him out.
But Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the extradition -- which is strongly opposed by Russia -- would not take place on Wednesday after all.
"There are several steps in the legal process," he told reporters.
Bout, said to have inspired the Hollywood film "Lord of War" starring Nicolas Cage, has been fighting extradition since his March 2008 arrest after a Bangkok sting operation involving US agents posing as Colombian rebels.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted in the United States on charges including conspiracy to kill US nationals and to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organisation.
Bout rejects the charges and says that he ran a legitimate air cargo business.
A Thai appeals court on Friday ordered the extradition of the 43-year-old former Soviet air force pilot, who is said to speak six languages and go by at least seven different aliases.
But the process has been held up because of new charges of money-laundering and fraud announced by US prosecutors in February this year, with another court hearing in Thailand set for October 4.
Suthep Thaugsuban, deputy prime minister in charge of national security, said that the Thai Criminal Court would have to drop proceedings relating to the new US charges before he can be handed over to the United States.
"There are new charges that the United States filed and they are still in court, so the prosecutor has to seek court approval to drop them and we don`t know what the court`s decision will be," he told reporters.
He confirmed that the United States had already sent an aircraft which was waiting to pick up Bout, but he said Thailand would not be influenced by outside pressure.
"The government will not put our country at risk to play a game of international politics. There is no benefit for our country to gamble with the fate of only one man," he said.
"We are acting in accordance with the law and no one can tell us to speed up the extradition, no matter if five or 10 aircraft are parked there. Thailand is not a country under anyone`s mandate. We have our sovereignty," he said.
Washington, which has described Bout as "one of the world`s most prolific arms traffickers," had lobbied hard for his extradition, summoning the Thai ambassador last week to emphasise it was of "the highest priority".
"We look forward to seeing him in a US court," US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said on Tuesday.
Moscow for its part has voiced "extreme disappointment" about the planned extradition, saying the decision was politically motivated.
Bout allegedly agreed to supply millions of dollars of weapons to undercover US agents in Thailand posing as rebels from Colombia`s Marxist FARC group, which Washington considers a terrorist organisation.
US prosecutors allege he agreed to the sale with the understanding that the weapons were to be used to attack United States helicopters.
A US indictment accuses Bout of using a fleet of cargo planes to transport weapons and military equipment to parts of the world including Africa, South America and the Middle East.
It alleges that the arms he has sold or brokered have fuelled conflicts and supported regimes in Afghanistan, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan.
BDST: 1040 HRS, August 25, 2010
