Alleged arms dealer Bout's remand period expires on Friday
14:54 15/11/2010 BANGKOK, November 15 (RIA Novosti) - Alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout will be released from Thai custody on November 19 unless the U.S. or the Thai Foreign Ministry seek an extension of his remand, a leading Thai official said on Monday.
"If the [Thai] prosecutor's office does not receive from the United States or the Thai Foreign Ministry instructions to seek the court's approval on extending Bout's remand before Friday, he will be released," Sirisak Tiyapan, the head of international affairs at Thailand's prosecutor general's office, told Nation daily.
Bout, 44, was arrested in Thailand in March 2008 at the request of the United States. His extradition to the United States was ordered by the Thai appeals court on August 20, but was not carried out because the United States brought a second set of charges against him in February.
These charges were dropped in early October, bringing the so-called Merchant of Death one step closer to extradition on an earlier U.S. request.
If he is not extradited by November 20, he must be released and sent back to Russia.
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