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Clinton Signs Papers to Extradite Noriega to France

   VOA News 26 April 2010
   Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in Panama City in 1989

Photo: AP

   Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in Panama City in 1989

   U.S. officials say Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has approved the
   extradition of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to France.
   Officials  said Monday that Clinton signed the order for Noriega to go
   to  France  where  he is wanted on money laundering charges.  Noriega
   was  later  escorted  to the airport in Miami and put on an Air France
   flight headed for Paris.
   The  former  dictator  surrendered  to  U.S.  troops  in January 1990,
   shortly  after  the U.S. invasion of Panama.  He was convicted in the
   United States in 1992 of drug trafficking and other charges. Â
   In  2007, Noriega completed a 17-year prison term dating from the time
   of  his  capture,  but  remained  in  custody  pending  the outcome of
   appeals.
   Noriega's  attorneys  have  argued  that  he was a prisoner of war and
   therefore should be allowed to return home to Panama.
   Noriega  recently exhausted all legal avenues for him to challenge his
   extradition from the United States.
   A  Noriega  attorney,  Frank  Rubino,  said  no  one from the State or
   Justice  Departments had the common courtesy to let him know about the
   extradition.

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