Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- A Thai court has cleared the way for the United States to move to extradite an accused international arms dealer on terrorism charges, but he is expected to throw up as many legal roadblocks as possible.
The criminal court ruled to not extradite defendant Viktor Bout on money-laundering and wire-fraud charges, giving him 72 hours to appeal.
That decision means that an August court ruling stands, at least temporarily, allowing him to be extradited to the United States on the terrorism charges. The Thai appeals court added at the time that Bout should be released if the process was not completed within three months.
Bout's lawyer said he will use every legal way to appeal and stall the extradition.
The former Soviet military officer has been indicted by U.S. authorities on a series of charges, including counts of illegally purchasing U.S. cargo planes to ferry weapons to warring parties and regimes in Africa and the Middle East.
Bout, who has been called "The Merchant of Death," was arrested in Bangkok in March 2008. Agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration led a sting operation by posing as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Bout has been in Thai custody since.
CNN
