US extradites Noriega to France

US: The United States extradited former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega to France Monday to face money-laundering charges after years of legal wrangling, US and French officials said.

Noriega was placed on board an Air France jet, escorted by French prison officials, shortly after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed an extradition order in Washington, officials said.

The plane departed for Charles De Gaulle airport at 5:46 pm (2146 GMT).

The flight ended a long legal battle by Noriega, 74, to stave off extradition to France where he faces charges of money-laundering after spending two decades in US custody following his 1989 overthrow in a US invasion.

But even before Noriega had arrived in France, the legal wrangling resumed with Panama saying it would continue to press for his extradition there and Noriega’s French lawyer vowing to challenge the jurisdiction of French courts.

Sandra Noriega, the former general’s daughter, said the move violated her father’s rights as a prisoner of war, a status conferred on him by the United States after his capture in 1990.

“This outlandish move is yet another violation of human rights and the rights under the Geneva Convention that protects prisoners of war,” she told RPC radio in Panama City.

Noriega’s lawyer, Frank Rubino, complained in Miami that he had not been informed of the action.

“Neither the State Department or the Justice Department has the courtesy to call me and tell me that the order was signed or if general Noriega has been taking away,” he told AFP.

A State Department spokesman announced the extradition after US television networks showed video of what they said was Noriega being led from a van into the Miami International Airport.

“Now that all judicial challenges to Noriega’s extradition have been resolved, the secretary of state issued a surrender warrant for his extradition to France,” said Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman.

Miami, Tuesday, AFP