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»Dealer of Death«: Who is Weapons Dealer Wiktor But?

2022-12-08T15:58:39.651Z


US basketball star Brittney Griner has been released from prison in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor But. So a deal. That suits the career of the windy businessman.


Enlarge image

Arms dealer Wiktor But (during his extradition trial in Thailand 2009)

Photo: Apichart Weerawong/AP

The US basketball player Brittney Griner, who has been imprisoned in Russia since February, was allowed to leave prison on Thursday – and that is why another prominent prisoner is now free: In exchange for Griner, the Russian arms dealer Wiktor But, who was imprisoned in the USA, left the country.

In the early afternoon, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported But's arrival in Moscow.

But had served more than ten years of a 25-year sentence.

He is said to have delivered weapons to troubled areas in Africa, South America, the Middle East and Asia and was dubbed the "dealer of death" because of his activities.

His life story is one of the real models of the Hollywood film "Lord of War" with Nicolas Cage in the leading role.

Wiktor But got his nickname for his skill in circumventing arms embargoes.

The former military interpreter made his fortune smuggling weapons from Eastern Europe to Africa and the Middle East.

From translator to arms dealer

There are different statements about the origin and youth of Wiktor But.

It is usually assumed that he was born in 1967 in Dushanbe, capital of the then Soviet Republic of Tajikistan.

He attended a Moscow cadre school for foreign languages ​​and studied economics. His language skills in English, French, Portuguese, Arabic and Persian later came in handy.

For the Soviet Army he worked as a translator in Angola, which later helped him with business.

But's career as an arms dealer began with the collapse of the Eastern Bloc.

He cheaply bought arms from the dwindling Soviet army and shipped them to conflict zones in Africa, Asia and beyond.

But took over about 60 old Soviet military aircraft based in the United Arab Emirates from the stocks of the Soviet Air Force, with which he was able to organize his worldwide trade himself.

He traded arms through intermediaries from his base in the Emirate of Sharjah on the Persian Gulf.

Liberia and Afghanistan

But's clientele is said to have been far-reaching and illustrious: Charles Taylor, ex-president and warlord in Liberia, was apparently one of them - just like Taylor's adversary, who supplied But with Kalashnikovs.

In Afghanistan, Bout appears to have sold arms to both the Taliban and their pro-Western Northern Alliance opponents -- as well as to Congo and the Islamist group Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines.

Around the turn of the millennium, Wiktor But became the most wanted man in the world.

Brussels put him on an international wanted list for diamond smuggling and money laundering, and the CIA was also on his trail.

In 2000, British Minister Peter Hain gave the then 33-year-old the nickname that still sticks with him to this day: "Merchant of Death".

Arrested in Bangkok in 2008

In 2008, Wiktor But stumbled into a trap in a luxury hotel in Bangkok: US agents had pretended to be representatives of the Colombian FARC rebels and pretended they wanted to buy weapons.

They used cameras to record But offering them 100 surface-to-air missiles to attack US troops.

Thai police arrested But and, after two years of diplomatic tug-of-war, extradited him to the United States.

In 2012, But was convicted by a federal court in New York on conspiracy to kill US citizens, kill US government officials and shoot down airplanes.

In addition to the imprisonment, he also received a $15 million fine.

At the time, the verdict was already leading to anger between the United States and Russia, which repeatedly called for But's release.

From then on there were repeated Russian attempts to get But free through an exchange.

Wiktor But's captivity ended this Thursday.

"On December 8, 2022, the exchange of Russian citizen Viktor Bout for US citizen Brittney Griner was successfully completed at Abu Dhabi Airport," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Unlike But, Griner was not in prison for arms dealing.

She was arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport for carrying vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.

sol/mgo/AFP/AP/Reuters

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-12-08

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