BANGKOK, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- A Thai appeals court reversed a lower court decision against extraditing a presumed Russian arms dealer to the United States and set a three-month deadline.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned the "illegal, political decision" against Viktor Bout -- subject of a book titled "Merchant of Death" -- and said Moscow would still seek his return to Russia, The New York Times reported Friday.
"Based on the information we have at our disposal, the decision was made under very strong outside pressure," Lavrov said. "This is lamentable."
Bout, a Russian businessman, is suspected of running a huge arms trafficking organization that supplied weapons to governments, insurgents and rebels across the world.
The appeals court decision, which reversed a 2009 ruling, is seen as a win for President Barack Obama's administration, which had summoned the Thai ambassador in Washington to the State Department to "emphasize that this is of the highest priority to the United States," a U.S. official said.
Russia had been seeking to prevent Bout from being placed in the U.S. legal system. Bout was arrested in Bangkok in a sting operation two years ago.
"I assure you that we will continue to do all that is necessary to ensure his return to his homeland," Russia's top diplomat said.
In 2009, a panel of Thai judges said Bout's "guilt cannot be determined in Thailand." In its ruling Friday, the appeals court did not contradict the 2009 finding, but said enough evidence was present to extradite Bout to the United States, the Times said.
"This case has to be further pursued in a court in the United States that has jurisdiction," said Siripan Kobkaew, one of the judges.
Bout's infamy was the basis of the 2005 movie, "Lord of War," and his arms dealings are detailed in the book "Merchant of Death."
