LONDON — The life of Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer jailed in the United States and linked to a possible swap for two U.S. citizens detained by Moscow,…
Variously dubbed “the merchant of death” and “the sanctions buster” for his ability to get around arms embargoes, Bout, 55, was one of the world’s most wanted men prior to his 2008 arrest on multiple charges related to arms trafficking.
A gifted linguist, who later used his reported command of English, French, Portuguese, Arabic and Persian to build his international arms empire, Bout reportedly attended the Dushanbe Esperanto club as a young boy, becoming fluent in the artificial language. From a base in the Gulf emirate of Sharjah, he interwove his arms trafficking empire with a seemingly innocuous logistics business, always insisting when queried that he was a legitimate entrepreneur with respectable clients and no case to answer.
It said Bout supplied guns to former Liberian President and warlord Charles Taylor, now serving a 50-year prison term for murder, rape and terrorism, to various Congolese factions, and to Philippine Islamist militant group Abu Sayyaf. Bout was tried on the charges related to FARC, which he denied, and in 2012 was convicted and sentenced by a court in Manhattan to 25 years in prison, the minimum sentence possible.On July 27, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington had made “a substantial offer” to Russia to release Women’s National Basketball Association star Brittney Griner and ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.
Lavrov has said Bout’s extradition from Thailand was “a glaring injustice” and suggested he was innocent.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Amanda Nunes Believes Valentina Shevchenko Lost Last Bout, Still Open to TrilogyAmanda Nunes welcomes a third fight with Valentina Shevchenko, even though she believes the flyweight champion should have lost her last title defense.
Read more »
Amanda Nunes Believes Valentina Shevchenko Lost Last Bout, Still Open to TrilogyAmanda Nunes welcomes a third fight with Valentina Shevchenko, even though she believes the flyweight champion should have lost her last title defense.
Read more »
Vladimir Putin caught on camera unable to use right armVladimir Putin appears to have lost the use of his right arm.
Read more »
UFC 277 Prelim Results: Alex Morono Closes Matthew Semelsberger's EyeUFC 277's prelims was topped by an entertaining featured welterweight bout between Alex Morono and Matthew Semelsberger.
Read more »
German Chancellor defends Trudeau, saying Canada called Putin’s bluff by agreeing to send Russian turbines backGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the Kremlin’s bluff by allowing Russian pipeline turbines repaired in Canada to be sent back to Moscow’s state-controlled Gazprom
Read more »
Chainlink: How LINK traders can use this to remain profitableDisclaimer: The findings of the following analysis are the sole opinions of the writer and should not be considered investment advice. Chainlink’s [LINK] previous descending triangle setup rekindled the selling edge as the alt fell below its 4-hour EMA ribbons. As a result, the altcoin plunged to test the $6.1-zone before marking admirable growth over […]
Read more »