U.S. extradites Noriega to France

The U.S. extradited former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to France on Monday, clearing the way for him to stand trial there on money-laundering charges.

The former strongman, who had been held in a federal prison in Miami, was on an Air France flight to Paris, according to a Department of Justice source who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to comment.

Yves Leberquier, one of Noriega's lawyers, confirmed he was headed to France.

"When he arrives he will be presented to the prosecutor and notified of the arrest warrant, and he will confirm his opposition" to the charges, Leberquier said.

The lawyer said Noriega will be presented Tuesday to a Paris judge who will determine whether he should stay in custody. Leberquier said Noriega's lawyers will push for that hearing to be open "so that the defence can be totally transparent."

Earlier, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed a so-called surrender warrant for Noriega after a federal judge in Miami lifted a stay blocking the extradition last month.

Noriega was ousted as Panama's leader and put on trial following a 1989 U.S. invasion that drove him from power. He was convicted of drug racketeering and related charges in 1992. His prison term ended in 2007, but France requested Noriega's extradition shortly before his U.S. drug-trafficking sentence expired.

New trial promised

The French claim Noriega laundered some $3 million in drug proceeds by purchasing luxury apartments in Paris. Noriega was convicted in absentia, but France agreed to give him a new trial if he were extradited.

Federal judges and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Noriega's claim that the Geneva Conventions regarding prisoners of war require him to be returned to Panama. Noriega was declared a POW after his 1992 drug conviction by a Miami federal judge.

Noriega, believed to be in his 70s, was Panama's longtime intelligence chief before he took power in 1982. He had been considered a valued CIA asset for years, but as a ruler he joined forces with drug traffickers and was implicated in the death of a political opponent.

President George H. W. Bush ordered an invasion in late 1989 to oust him, and he was taken to Miami, convicted and imprisoned.