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Viktor Anatolyevich Bout (Russian: Виктор Анатольевич Бут) (born 13 January 1967 near Dushanbe, Tajik SSR, Soviet Union) established a myriad of air cargo companies and is famous for being a suspected arms dealer. A former Soviet military translator,[1] Bout made a significant amount of money through his many air transport companies,[2] shipping cargo mostly in Africa and the Middle East during the 1990s and early 2000s.[citation needed] Just as willing to ship cargo for Charles Taylor in Liberia as he was for the United Nations in Sudan and the United States in Iraq,[2][3] Bout may have facilitated huge arms shipments into various civil wars in Africa with his private air cargo fleets during the 1990s.[4] While claiming to have done little more than provide logistics, he has been called a "sanctions buster"[2] by former British Foreign Office minister Peter Hain, who described Bout as "the principal conduit for planes and supply routes that take arms... from east Europe, principally Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine to Liberia and Angola."[5] Peter Hain has also called Bout a "merchant of death,"[6] and an eponymous book by Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun details investigations of Bout by the US and others.[7] Douglas Farah, when interviewed by Mother Jones, said, "It is important to note, as we do in the book, that much of what Viktor Bout does is, while reprehensible, not illegal."[8] Bout has never been prosecuted for arms trafficking[9] and while he has shipped flowers, frozen chicken,[2] UN peacekeepers, French soldiers and African heads of state,[10] it has never been shown that his aircraft moved weapons of any kind.[citation needed] Viktor Bout has always professed his innocence.
[edit] HistoryA UN document, and Bout himself, state his birthplace as Dushanbe, USSR (now, the capital of Tajikistan),[10][11][12][13] possibly on 13 January 1967.[10][13] But a few other birthplaces have been suggested;[11] a 2001 South African intelligence file listed him as Ukrainian in origin.[14][15] [edit] Soviet military serviceThere is confusion regarding Bout's military career, although it is clear he served in the Soviet Union's armed forces. He graduated from the Military Institute of Foreign Languages,[13][16] and is said to be fluent in six languages[17] including Russian, Portuguese, English, French and Arabic.[12] His personal website states that he served in the army of the Soviet Union as a translator, holding the rank of Lieutenant.[1] Other sources state he rose to the rank of major in the GRU, an arm of the Soviet armed services that combined intelligence agents and special forces,[2] or that he was an officer in the Soviet air force,[3] or that he was KGB.[10] [edit] AfricaBout served in Angola, part of the Soviet contingent of a 1987[16] peacekeeping operation there.[13][16] Bout has said he was in Angola for only a few weeks.[10] He began an airfreight business in Africa around the time of the collapse of the USSR.[12] [edit] CustomersAs well as some more controversial customers such as Charles G. Taylor, the French government,[10] the UN and the US have also paid for his services.[8][15][18] [edit] Suspect shipmentsThe nickname, 'Sanctions Buster' is due to Bout having been implicated in facilitating the violation of UN arms embargoes in Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo.[19] [edit] Eastern European arms to AngolaA 2000 United Nations report states that, "...Bulgarian arms manufacturing companies had exported large quantities of different types of weapons between 1996 and 1998 on the basis of (forged)[13] end-user certificates from Togo."[20][21] And that, "...with only one exception, the company Air Cess, owned by Victor Bout, was the main transporter of these weapons from Burgas airport in Bulgaria."[20][21] These weapons may have been destined for use by Uniao Nacional para a Independencia Total de Angola (UNITA),[20][21] one faction in Angola's 1975–2002 civil war. Another suspected arms dealer, Imad Kebir, is said to have employed Bout's aircraft during the mid-1990s to transport weapons to Africa from Eastern European states.[22] The cargo supposedly had Zairean end user certificates, but the true end-user was UNITA.[22] From 1993 Angola was under an UN embargo prohibiting the importation of arms.[23] [edit] AfghanistanSoon after the beginning of the 2001-present war in Afghanistan al Qaeda is said to have moved gold and cash out of the country, and "credible reports" state that some of the planes used to do this were linked to Bout.[22] Bout says he has been to Afghanistan "many times,"[11] and while openly stating that starting in 1994[24] he had made shipments for the pre-Taliban government which later became the Northern Alliance, as well as having known Ahmed Shah Massoud, an Afghan Northern Alliance commander,[10] he denies any dealings with al Qaeda or the Taliban.[24] Author Douglas Farah, in an 2007 interview, stated Bout had customers in both the Taliban and the Northern Alliance, however.[18] [edit] Interpol noticesConstantly moving location, owning numerous companies and frequently re-registering aircraft[2][20] made it hard for authorities to make a case against Bout. He has never been charged for the alleged African arms deals to which he owes his notoriety.[9] [edit] Belgian requestThe Belgians requested that Interpol issue a notice for Bout on charges of money laundering and in 2002 an INTERPOL Red Notice on Bout was issued requiring his provisional arrest with view to extradition.[8] Bout's website states a Belgian warrant (not the INTERPOL notice) for his arrest for failing to appear in court was issued, but later cancelled.[1] And the site has a document in Dutch to support the claim that the Belgian case against him was dismissed.[25] [edit] US requestThe day of his Bangkok arrest, an INTERPOL red notice requiring his provisional arrest with view to extradition was requested by the US against Bout. The reason being conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.[26] His wanted poster can be viewed here. [edit] Executive Order 13348Due to Bout's close association with Charles Taylor's Liberia the United States froze Bout's, along with many others', US assets in July 2004 through Executive Order 13348, which specifically mentions him as a "businessman, dealer and transporter of weapons and minerals" in the annex.[27] [edit] CAR trialCharged in 2000 with forging documents in the Central African Republic, Bout was convicted in absentia and the charges were later dropped.[16] [edit] Thai arrest and extradition trialBout was arrested on an INTERPOL red notice and is facing extradition to the US where a formal indictment against him has been made. He would have faced prosecution if his extradition to the US was successful. [edit] ArrestViktor Bout was arrested by Royal Thai Police in Bangkok on March 6, 2008,[26] the culmination of a sting operation set up by US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents.[3] Bout allegedly offered to supply weapons to what he thought were representatives of Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels.[2][3] [edit] Extradition hearingAfter months of delay, Bangkok's Criminal Court on Monday, 22 September, 2008 began an extradition hearing for Bout.[28] In February 2009 Members of the United States Congress signed a letter to Attorney General Holder and Secretary of State (i.e. Foreign Secretary) Clinton which expressed their wish that Bout's extradition, "remain a top priority".[29] Mr Bout, then 42, had been in prison in Bangkok for over a year when on Tuesday 11th of August 2009 the court ruled in favour of Mr Bout. US officials expressed their surprise by this decision while a spokesman for Russia’s foreign ministry stated that Russia was ”satisfied by the decision and we hope that Viktor Bout will return to his homeland in the near future.”[30] [edit] US indictmentThe day after his Bangkok arrest the U.S. Department of Justice charged Bout with conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization,[31] conspiring to kill Americans, conspiring to kill US officers or employees and conspiring to acquire and use an anti-aircraft missile.[28] On August 11, 2009, Thai Court ruled in favor of Viktor Bout, denying the US its request for extradition based on the lack of legal basis and political motivation behind the case.[32] Therefore, he will not face prosecution for the American charges. [edit] In the mediaThe 2005 film, Lord of War is thought to be based, in part, on stories of his alleged gun-running.[2][33] In 2007 Stephen Braun and Douglas Farah published a book about Bout entitled Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible.[7] [edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
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