A federal judge in Miami paved the way Friday for Manuel Noriega, the former Panamanian general ousted by the American military in 1989, to face money laundering charges in France once his prison term in the United States ends next month. Manuel Noriega in 1989. He was convicted in absentia in France for money laundering.
Judge William M. Hoeveler of United States District Court rejected arguments by Mr. Noriega’s lawyers that his status as a prisoner of war in the United States required the Bush administration to return him to Panama.
Mr. Noriega may still appeal the ruling, which will keep him in United States custody for some weeks or months... It was the first Bush administration that ordered an invasion in 1989 to oust Mr. Noriega, who was once an asset of the Central Intelligence Agency and Drug Enforcement Administration but was later found to have accepted payments to allow cocaine bound for the United States to pass through Panama. Associated Press