Man who tried to kill Noriega says ex dictator will never return

An American army veteran jailed and tortured by Manuel Antonio Noriega, after an alleged assassination attempt, says the US will never return the former dictator to Panama.

Meanwhile Vice President Juan Carlos says “not a penny” of government money will be spent to aid Noriega’s repatriation.
But Noriega’s family aided by high priced lawyers in Panama and the US have launched a last gasp campaign to avoid his extradition to France.
Jean-Michel Beauchamp, grandson of the man who has been convicted in absentia of two charges of murder in Panama appeared on CNN to speak of the of the virtues of his grandfather and said that it would be an "injustice" to send him to France.
Noriega’s lawyers in Panama have asked President Ricardo Martinelli to block the extradition, and his US lawyers have written to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking her to have him sent back to Panama.
The final decision is in the hands of Clinton who by law must approve all extradition orders after the appeals process has been exhausted.
France wants to imprison him for money laundering. If Clinton decides to send Noriega to Panama, the case would have to return to US Federal Court in Miami.
Hopes for Martinelli’s intervention seemd slim when, on Tuesday, Vice President Varela said that the government would not spend "a penny" to facilitate the repatriation of Noriega.
Others are concerned that his return would lead to the opening of many closets containing skeletons of links to the dictator by man who have risen to high office since he was captured and jailed in the US.
Thomas Bleming, decorated Vietnam veteran and soldier of fortune, who was imprisoned and tortured by Noriega, told Newsroom that the US will never allow him to return to Panama, because of what he might reveal.
Bleming was jailed for over two years for an alleged assassination plot against Noriega in 1979, and has recorded his experiences in a book, Panama, Echoes From a Revolution, available at Exedra Books,on Via Espana and at bookstores in Boquete and The Bookmark in Dolega, Chiriqui.