• Accused associate of 'Lord of War' arms dealer Viktor Bout caught in Australia

    By Larry Neumeister and Stephen Braun, The Associated Press

    NEW YORK -- An associate of a notorious Russian arms dealer was arrested in Australia and charged with conspiring to buy planes so that weapons could be transported to the world's bloodiest conflicts, a U.S. prosecutor announced Thursday.

    Syrian-born American Richard Ammar Chichakli was arrested Wednesday at the request of U.S. authorities on charges that he conspired with Russian arms merchant Viktor Bout and others to try to buy the planes from two U.S. companies.

    Sukree Sukplang / Reuters file

    Suspected Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout speaks to the media after arriving at a Bangkok criminal court August 20, 2010, ahead of an expected appeal court verdict on whether to extradite him to the U.S.

    His arrest was first confirmed by the Australian Fairfax Media news organization, which reported Thursday that he was arrested in Melbourne after applying for a post in the government Protective Service Office, a law enforcement agency. The news service reported that he said nothing during a Thursday hearing at the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

    A lawyer for Chichakli told officials that his client had identified himself as Jehad Almustafa. Chichakli was held pending the processing of a U.S. extradition request.

    Victoria state police spokeswoman Jessica Rosewarne confirmed Chichakli was caught after applying for the government post.

    "He was identified as a person of interest through routine background checks as part of the application process," she said. "He had not been offered employment with Victoria police or started any training."

    U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, the chief federal prosecutor in New York, said Chichakli "consorted with the world's most notorious arms trafficker in the purchase of aircraft that would be used to transport weapons to some of the world's bloodiest conflict zones, in violation of international sanctions."

    Michele M. Leonhart, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the international law enforcement community has long recognized Chichakli as a key criminal facilitator in Bout's global weapons trafficking regime.

    "His arrest means the world is safer and more secure," she said in a release.

    Merchant of Death
    Bout is a former Soviet air officer dubbed the Merchant of Death because of his 1990s-era notoriety for running a fleet of aging Soviet-era cargo planes to conflict-ridden hotspots in Africa. He also inspired the arms dealer character played by Nicolas Cage in the 2005 film "Lord of War."

    Bout, convicted of conspiracy relating to the support of a Colombian terrorist organization, was sentenced in Manhattan last year to 25 years in prison but maintained he was a legitimate businessman.


    An indictment against Chichakli in U.S. District Court in Manhattan and other court documents accuse Chichakli of working as a close associate of Bout since at least the mid-1990s to assemble a fleet of cargo planes capable of shipping weapons and military equipment to various parts of the world, including Africa, South America and the Middle East.

    Prosecutors say the arms have helped fuel conflicts and support regimes in Afghanistan, Angola, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan.

    Over the years, Chichakli has weaved a colorful biography of his past but often repudiated his comments under the glare of law enforcement scrutiny.

    He has claimed to have befriended a young Osama bin Laden during college days at Riyadh University in Saudi Arabia. He also claimed a stint in the U.S. Army, replete with intelligence training and service in the first Gulf War.

    The indictment accuses Chichakli and Bout of violating sanctions by arranging to buy two Boeing aircraft from U.S. companies in 2007. It says they electronically transferred more than $1.7 million through banks in New York and into bank accounts in the U.S., though the money was blocked by the U.S. Department of the Treasury before it reached the aviation companies' accounts.

    The Treasury Department had imposed an asset freeze against Chichakli in April 2005 as part of larger financial sanctions aimed at the Bout network's dealings with the dictatorial regime of Liberian President Charles Taylor. The department called Chichakli, who once ran a small conglomerate of Texas-based businesses from a Dallas suburb, "Bout's U.S.-based chief financial officer."

    If convicted, Chichakli could face up to 20 years in prison on each of nine counts, including conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, money laundering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud.

    Related stories:
    Russia rages over US court's 25-year sentence on 'Merchant of Death' Viktor Bout
    NY judge gives 'Merchant of Death' 25 years
    Liberia's Charles Taylor jailed for 50 years over 'heinous and brutal crimes'

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  • Russia rages over US court's 25-year sentence on 'Merchant of Death' Viktor Bout

    Narong Sangnak / EPA, file

    Russia is furious over a 25-year prison sentence imposed on arms dealer Viktor Bout -- seen inside a cell at the criminal court in Bangkok, Thailand -- by a court in the U.S.

    By Ian Johnston, msnbc.com, and news services

    Moscow on Friday slammed the 25-year prison sentenced imposed on Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout by a U.S. court, saying repatriating the man known as the “Merchant of Death” would be “one of our top priorities in Russian-American relations.”

    Bout was caught in an undercover sting in Bangkok in 2008 by U.S. agents posing as Colombian guerrillas seeking weapons and later extradited to New York.

    He was convicted on two counts of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and officers of the United States and one count each of conspiracy to sell anti-aircraft missiles and providing material support to a terrorist organization.

    The judge said Thursday that sentencing guidelines called for a life sentence, which prosecutors requested, but said the fact that Bout's conduct was a result of a government sting operation was a mitigating factor despite his long history of arms dealing.

    Russia 'not seeking revenge'
    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that he would discuss the sentence with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to Russia’s RIA Novosti news service.

    “In this situation we are not seeking revenge, but want to help Viktor Bout. We are not proceeding by a desire to take revenge at any price, but by the desire to enforce the rights of our compatriot. We will actively support the appeal that Bout’s lawyers are going to file and will strive for his repatriation,” he added.

    In a statement Russia’s foreign ministry said it would “take whatever action necessary to repatriate Viktor Bout back to his Motherland by any means within international law,” RIA Novosti reported.

    “This issue will, without doubt, be one of our top priorities in Russian-American relations," it added.

    March 6, 2008: A man the U.S. says is one of the world's biggest arms dealer was arrested in Thailand. MSNBC's Contessa Brewer talks with "Merchant of Death" author Steve Braun.

    "In spite of the unreliability of the evidence, the illegal character of his arrest involving the participation of U.S. special service agents in Thailand and the subsequent extradition, American legal officials, having carried out a political order, ignored the arguments of lawyers and numerous appeals from all levels in defense of this Russian citizen," ministry statement said.

    "Long before the sentence was given to Bout, the authorities declared him the 'Merchant of Death' and almost an international terrorist, but this accusation was based exclusively on his imputed 'criminal intent,’” it said.

    NY judge gives Merchant of Death 25 years

    The statement, as quoted by RIA Novosti, alleged that an attempt was made to force Bout to admit he was guilty “by creating unbearable conditions for detention, by both physical and psychological means. The absolutely unacceptable campaign by the American media was aimed at influencing the jury and the judicial process in the 'right direction.'"

    Reputed $6 billion fortune
    In court for the sentencing hearing Thursday, Bout blurted out “It’s a lie!” as the federal prosecutor argued unsuccessfully for a life sentence.

    U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin said 25 years was sufficient and appropriate because there was no evidence the 45-year-old Bout would have been charged with seeking to harm Americans if not approached by informants posing as Colombian rebels. The judge also ordered a $15 million forfeiture.

    "But for the approach made through this determined sting operation, there is no reason to believe Bout would ever have committed the charged crimes," she said.

    For nearly two decades, Bout built a worldwide air cargo operation, amassing a fleet of more than 60 transport planes, hundreds of companies and a fortune reportedly in excess of $6 billion — exploits that were the main inspiration for the Nicholas Cage film "Lord of War."

    His aircraft flew from Afghanistan to Angola, carrying everything from raw minerals to gladiolas, drilling equipment to frozen fish.

    But, according to authorities, the network's specialty was black market arms — assault rifles, ammunition, anti-aircraft missiles, helicopter gunships and a full range of sophisticated weapons systems, almost always sourced from Russian stocks or from Eastern European factories.

    In the months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, U.S., British and United Nations authorities heard growing reports that Bout's planes and maintenance operations, then headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, were aiding the Taliban while it sheltered al-Qaida militants in Afghanistan.

    Bout later denied that he worked with the Taliban or al-Qaida — and denied ever participating in black market arms deals.

    Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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