Russian arms-dealing suspect pleads not guilty

A Russian labelled the "Merchant of Death" by those who claim he fuelled some of the world's deadly Third World conflicts over the last decade with powerful weapons made his first appearance in a U.S. court Wednesday.

Bout, 43, a former Soviet military officer and air cargo executive, faces charges he supported terrorists trying to overthrow the government of Colombia and shared their hatred for Americans.

Bout, who wore a brown shirt and black sweatpants, pleaded not guilty in New York through his lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, and spoke politely as he answered the judge's questions.

At one point, Bout was asked if a financial affidavit he signed was accurate. He replied, "Yes, I swear," through an intrepreter, standing and raising his hand as if swearing to tell the truth.

The judge ordered him detained without bail while awaiting his next court appearance, which was set for Jan. 10.

Bout was flown from Bangkok to New York on Tuesday in a chartered U.S. plane, extradited in manacles despite a final outraged push by Russian diplomats to persuade Thailand to release him, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Bout's extradition followed a bruising diplomatic tug-of-war between the U.S. and Russia that could jeopardize co-operation on nuclear arms control and the war in Afghanistan.

Bout has been accused of arming failed states and insurgents across the Third World since the 1990s, but he had never been arrested.

Thailand's government ordered Bout placed in American custody Tuesday, 20 months after his March 2008 arrest in a sting led by U.S. narcotics agents. Since then, the wealthy businessman — estimated by the U.S. to be worth $6 billion US — had been in a Thai jail.

Bout arrived late Tuesday at the Stewart air national guard base in Newburgh, N.Y. Looking calm when he got off the plane, he was given a helmet to wear before being put in an armoured vehicle with about five other people.

He then was driven about 100 kilometres south to Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center, where previous celebrity inmates have included Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff, mobster John Gotti and blind terrorist sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman.

Bout, who says he's a legitimate businessman, faces U.S. charges of having a gunrunning empire — a prosecution that American officials describe as a milestone in international efforts to cripple the flow of illicit weapons used in conflicts around the world.

Extradition 'unlawful': Russia

The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted with strong words after Bout was hustled from a Thai prison to a waiting jet early Tuesday. Russia branded the extradition "unlawful," blaming "unprecedented political pressure from the U.S.A."

The decision by Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's cabinet came just four days before Saturday, when Bout would have been freed under an earlier court ruling. Russian diplomats pressed Thai officials to let that deadline pass, according to former U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is said to have warned U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Russia's co-operation on anti-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan might be curtailed unless Bout were freed.

Bout has long been targeted by American and United Nations sanctions aimed at blocking his financial activities and restricting his travel.

Bout has been accused of supplying weapons used in civil wars in South America, the Middle East and Africa, with clients ranging from Liberia's Charles Taylor and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to the Taliban government that once ran Afghanistan. He was an inspiration for an arms dealer character played by Nicolas Cage in the 2005 film Lord of War.

His arrest came at a Bangkok luxury hotel after a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration operation using informants who posed as officials of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also known as FARC, classified by Washington as a narco-terrorist group.

Conspiracy charges

Bout was charged with conspiracy to smuggle missiles and rocket launchers to FARC and to kill American officers or employees. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

A successful U.S. prosecution could set a precedent for bringing other international crime kingpin suspects to trial, showing "that we would not tolerate international scofflaws," said Juan Zarate, a former Bush administration national security adviser who is now a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Law enforcement experts say the prosecution would be built around extensive use of informants and wiretaps.

"It's going to be damning, especially the wiretaps," said Michael Braun, a former DEA official and now managing partner of the Spectre Group International security firm. "The guy is not going to be able to say he didn't say these things because it's all down on tape."