Noriega is flown to Panama to serve time
Source: Agencies |
December 12, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Former military strongman Manuel Antonio Noriega was flown home to Panama yesterday to be punished once again for crimes he committed during a career that saw him transformed from a close Cold War ally of Washington to the vilified target of a United States invasion.
Noriega left Orly airport, south of Paris, on a flight of Spain's Iberia airlines, delivered directly to the aircraft by a four-car convoy and motorcycles that escorted him from the French capital's walked La Sante prison. The flight left for Madrid. Spanish airport authority AENA later confirmed the plane had taken off for Panama just before 2pm local time.
The French Justice Ministry, in a one-line statement, said France turned Noriega over to Panamanian officials yesterday in accordance with extradition proceedings. It was the only official remark.
Noriega's return comes after over 20 years in US and French prisons for drug trafficking and money laundering. Panama convicted him during his captivity overseas for the slayings of two political opponents in the 1980s.
He was sentenced to 20 years in each case, and Panamanian officials say he will be sent straight to a jail cell when he lands. The ex-general, whose pockmarked face earned him the nickname "Pineapple Face," could eventually leave prison under a law allowing prisoners over 70 to serve out their time under house arrest.
A doctor was reported to be among the team of Panamanian officials escorting the 77-year-old ex-dictator back to Panama.
"He was very impatient, very happy. He's going home," one of his French lawyers, Antonin Levy, said by telephone on Saturday night, a day after his last visit with Noriega.
But many Panamanians still want to see the man who stole elections and dispatched squads of thugs to beat opponents bloody in the streets to pay his debt at home.
"Noriega was responsible for the invasion and those who died in the operation. He dishonored his uniform, there was barely a shot and he went off to hide. He must pay," said Hatuey Castro, 82, a member of the anti-Noriega opposition who was detained and beaten by the strongman's thugs in 1989.
Though other US conflicts have long since pushed him from the spotlight, the 1989 invasion that ousted Noriega was one of the most bitterly debated events of the Cold War's waning years.
Noriega began working with US intelligence when he was a student at a military academy in Peru, said Everett Ellis Briggs, the US ambassador to Panama from 1982 to 1986.
As he rose in the Panamanian military during the 1970s and 1980s, Noriega cooperated closely with the CIA. But he was playing a double game. He also began working with Colombia's Medellin drug cartel and made millions moving cocaine to the US.
Noriega left Orly airport, south of Paris, on a flight of Spain's Iberia airlines, delivered directly to the aircraft by a four-car convoy and motorcycles that escorted him from the French capital's walked La Sante prison. The flight left for Madrid. Spanish airport authority AENA later confirmed the plane had taken off for Panama just before 2pm local time.
The French Justice Ministry, in a one-line statement, said France turned Noriega over to Panamanian officials yesterday in accordance with extradition proceedings. It was the only official remark.
Noriega's return comes after over 20 years in US and French prisons for drug trafficking and money laundering. Panama convicted him during his captivity overseas for the slayings of two political opponents in the 1980s.
He was sentenced to 20 years in each case, and Panamanian officials say he will be sent straight to a jail cell when he lands. The ex-general, whose pockmarked face earned him the nickname "Pineapple Face," could eventually leave prison under a law allowing prisoners over 70 to serve out their time under house arrest.
A doctor was reported to be among the team of Panamanian officials escorting the 77-year-old ex-dictator back to Panama.
"He was very impatient, very happy. He's going home," one of his French lawyers, Antonin Levy, said by telephone on Saturday night, a day after his last visit with Noriega.
But many Panamanians still want to see the man who stole elections and dispatched squads of thugs to beat opponents bloody in the streets to pay his debt at home.
"Noriega was responsible for the invasion and those who died in the operation. He dishonored his uniform, there was barely a shot and he went off to hide. He must pay," said Hatuey Castro, 82, a member of the anti-Noriega opposition who was detained and beaten by the strongman's thugs in 1989.
Though other US conflicts have long since pushed him from the spotlight, the 1989 invasion that ousted Noriega was one of the most bitterly debated events of the Cold War's waning years.
Noriega began working with US intelligence when he was a student at a military academy in Peru, said Everett Ellis Briggs, the US ambassador to Panama from 1982 to 1986.
As he rose in the Panamanian military during the 1970s and 1980s, Noriega cooperated closely with the CIA. But he was playing a double game. He also began working with Colombia's Medellin drug cartel and made millions moving cocaine to the US.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
