wmlro.com: US gets rid of Noriega problem with night-flight to Paris
It's taken the French more 20 years to get their hands on the former President of Panama, Manual Noriega who was rumoured to have a percentage of every drug deal made in his country whilst he was in power. The Americans got to him first; the French say he used drugs profits to pay for property in France and they wanted to try him for money laundering. Last night, he was put on a plane for France.
Noriega became military dictator - but called himself President - of the central American country of Panama in 1983. From then until 1989, he ran an extraordinarily violent regime. In 1989, the USA invaded Panama and captured Noriega where, in 1992, he was convicted of drug trafficking, racketeering and money laundering.
Noriega was a graduate of several courses run by the US military and was at one time in the pay of the CIA and facilitating US operations in central America.
Although his sentence ended in 2007, Noriega was detained in the USA pending extradition requests from both Panama and France. He fought both but a series of applications were turned down by the US Courts, most recently the Supreme Court returned his case to a lower court for determination and, yesterday, his chances ran out as he was escorted by US Marshals to an Air France plane where he will face charges that could result in a jail sentence exceeding 10 years.
Noriega had asked the USA to send him to Panama - where there is an extradition warrant outstanding. He is 76 years old and he will be one of the oldest prisoners in France. If he is then sent to jail in Panama, it looks as if the families of his victims may see their wish to see him die in jail.
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