The court ruled that the extradition process must be completed within three months, otherwise Bout will be released.

Bout was shackled in chains during Friday's hearing.

His wife and daughter were also in the courtroom. After the ruling, they stood up and cried.

Bout has been indicted by U.S. federal 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.

In February, a federal indictment charged Bout and an alleged co-conspirator with the illegal purchase of a Boeing 727 and a Boeing 737, money laundering and wire fraud.

Thai courts had previously balked at extraditing Bout to the United States on the basis of the original charges against him, which centered on his alleged efforts to send millions of dollars worth of weapons to arm guerrilla fighters in Colombia.

Bout was arrested in Bangkok in March 2008 after a dramatic sting operation led by agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, posing as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Widely regarded as a prolific arms dealer, Bout, has been in Thai custody since.

Bout has repeatedly said he has not broken any laws and the allegations against him are lies.

He is accused of supplying weapons to war zones around the world -- from Sierra Leone to Afghanistan.

The United States charged Bout in 2008 with agreeing to sell surface-to-air missiles, armor-piercing rocket launchers, "ultralight" airplanes, unmanned aerial vehicles, and other weapons to FARC. Justice Department officials have sought his extradition since then.

Federal authorities accused Bout of four terrorism offenses: conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, conspiracy to kill U.S. officers or employees, conspiracy to acquire and use an anti-aircraft missile, and conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the designation given to FARC by the U.S. State Department.

A former Soviet air force officer who speaks six languages, Bout allegedly began building his arms business as the Soviet Union disintegrated in the early 1990s. He acquired surplus Soviet planes and, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, started shipping arms and ammunition to various conflict zones.

It is widely believed that he inspired the character of Yuri Orlov, the arms dealer played by Nicholas Cage in the 2005 film "Lord of War.