US unveils terror charges against Russian arms dealer

NEW YORK (AFP) — US officials on Tuesday announced they had charged alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout on four counts of terrorism for seeking to sell millions of dollars of weapons to Colombia's FARC rebels.

The Department of Justice officially unsealed the indictment against Bout, who has been held in a maximum-security prison outside Bangkok since his arrest by Thai authorities on March 6.

Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death" for his alleged role in funnelling weapons to some of the world's bloodiest conflicts, was nabbed by US agents in a Bangkok hotel and faces life in jail if convicted on the US charges.

The indictment, which upgrades an earlier criminal complaint filed in March, specifically accuses Bout of conspiring to sell millions of dollars in illegal arms to Colombian FARC rebels and of conspiracy to kill US nationals.

He has also been charged with ...