US and Thai authorities announced Thursday the capture of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death" for his sales of weapons to fighters in some of the world's most violent conflicts of the past decade.

The Associated Press reports that Mr. Bout was arrested Thursday in Bangkok, Thailand, where he had flown to negotiate an arms deal with DEA agents posing as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and now faces extradition to the US.

Viktor Bout, a 41-year-old whose dealings reportedly inspired a 2005 movie about the illicit arms trade, is accused of running weapons to al-Qaida, the Taliban and parties involved in bloody conflicts across Africa. He was arrested at a Bangkok hotel after a four-month sting operation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Thai and U.S. authorities said.

"He is called the 'Merchant of Death' and 'Man of War' for a reason," Thomas Pasquarello, regional director of the DEA, said in Bangkok.

American authorities intend to extradite Bout but the timing still has to be "worked out" between the two nations, Pasquarello said.

The New York Times reports that Andrew Smulian, a business associate of Bout's, was also detained in Bangkok and faces possible extradition to the US. The Bangkok Post writes that Thai authorities are considering trying Bout in Thailand, though they may drop the charges to clear the way for Washington to take charge of Bout. RIA Novosti adds that Russia may also seek to extradite Bout, though Russian officials have not said whether he would face charges there.

The Financial Times reports that Bout has been accused of arms dealing for more than a decade. Bout, a former Soviet officer, allegedly bought aircraft and weapons from former Soviet states and sold them in military conflicts around the world.

UN investigations placed him at the centre of a network of logistics and aviation companies delivering weapons to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Johan Peleman, an arms trade expert who works for the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, said many of Mr Bout's aircraft were operating in Africa but in some cases "he has either sold them or sub-leased them for longer periods of time", making it difficult to link him to operations.

Michael Braun, assistant administrator of the DEA, gave some indication of the drama of investigation at the unsealing of the complaint in New York. "Someone will undoubtedly write a book about this case. I can tell you that it will read like the very best work of Tom Clancy, only in this case it won't be fiction."

The BBC writes in a profile of Bout that his nickname "merchant of death" was first coined by former British Foreign Minister Peter Hain.

After reading a 2003 report about him, Mr Hain said: "Bout is the leading merchant of death who is the principal conduit for planes and supply routes that take arms... from east Europe, principally Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine to Liberia and Angola.

"The UN has exposed Bout as the centre of a spider's web of shady arms dealers, diamond brokers and other operatives, sustaining the wars."

The BBC notes that the US ordered Bout's assets frozen in 2006, and banned Americans from doing business with him.

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