Bangkok - Thai authorities illegally detained suspected arms' smuggler Viktor Bout and a US extradition request should be quashed, his lawyer argued in court Monday.

The United States is seeking Bout's extradition to face four charges of terrorism and judges in the Thai Criminal Court, who on Monday began hearing the case, said they would consider the move quash later.

The 41-year-old former Soviet army major was arrested in Bangkok on March 6 in a US-led sting operation that allegedly caught him making a deal with Colombian rebels.

He faces charges in the US of attempting to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which is designated a terrorist organization by the US Justice Department.

Bout has denied any illegal involvement in arms' sales or similar activities.

Starting his career as an officer in the Soviet army, Bout later was accused of selling weapons to the Taliban in Afghanistan and to the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

He faces up to 15 years in prison on US charges of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Bout was the subject of the book Merchant of Death by Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun, published last year.

Some say he was the inspiration for the 2005 film Lord of War starring Nicholas Cage as an arms' dealer named Yuri Orlov. According to the director of the movie, a key scene was filmed using an Antonov AN-12 aircraft rented from Bout and his Skylink airline, one of more than a dozen that he owned.

The trial, which has been delayed several times including because Bout's Thai lawyer was ill, is expected to go into October. Russian diplomats have sought dismissal of the case so that he could return to Russia. (dpa)