17 March 2008
(Page 2 of 2)
Whether Bout or his colleagues were involved in the Kenyan "conversion" is, however, still a mystery, but could emerge in the forthcoming trials.
Internationally, intelligence agencies are said to have kept Bout on their radar for years, as his operation shipped everything from rifles to tanks and attack helicopters to various combatants.
At the height of his operation, Bout was said to own a fleet comprising between 40 and 60 planes registered under a dozen front companies. He also employed at least 300 people, and worked with a network of associates spread across the globe.
His recent arrest does not inspire confidence among international human-rights activists. Despite the grim nature of his work, many are convinced that Bout often enjoyed some level of protection or acquiescence from Western intelligence, especially when he supplied arms to combatants who were in pursuit of strategic objectives similar to those of the West.
For example, one of Bout's front companies - Air Bas - was in 2003 contracted by the US government to fly military supply missions in Iraq, despite outstanding arrest warrants against him. The issue was even taken up by US Senator Russ Feingold in 2004.
A US army spokeswoman is then reported to have said that the situation in Iraq was fluid, and they did not have any control over who the main contractors were sub-contracting.
Whether these interests will want to see their dirty linen aired in public, says the rights activists, remains to be seen.
Bout was reputedly a "very democratic" arms-dealer. He is said to have liberally dealt with both sides in a conflict, in the process shipping incredible amounts of weaponry.
His main concern seems to have been money, and not ideology. In May 2006, for example, when 200,000 AK-47 assault rifles allegedly went missing in transit from Bosnia to Iraq, one of Bout's airlines was the carrier.
At various times, some of Bout's shadow companies also did business with the UN itself, which had issued an arrest warrant for him!
Apart from African conflicts, according to the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, Bout and his associates also liberally supplied weapons to Afghanistan warlords and the Taliban in exchange for drugs, as well as to countless rebel groups in Latin America, including FARC.
Between 1992 and 1995, according to the site, the arms dealer made an alleged $50 million from supplying several Afghan groups, enabling him to globalise his operations. His Taliban connection made him a high value target for US intelligence after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.
Born in Dushanbe in Tajikistan in the former USSR on January 13, 1967, Bout is said to enjoy especially good contacts in the Russian military, where he served in various capacities until his retirement in 1993.
During his subsequent dealings, he also reportedly built an incredibly powerful network of friends and political contacts, many of whom could be seriously embarrassed if he were to face an open trial.
The fact that Bout, who uses at least half-a-dozen passports and speaks more than six languages, was able to travel to Thailand shortly before his arrest is itself telling, given that the UN had already banned him from international travel and frozen his foreign bank accounts.
Bout's military background could also apparently serve him well in any legal battle. His dealings, according to Wikipedia, "were careful and complicated, making it hard for authorities to assess, for instance, which planes are his and which are operating illegally."
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