France awaiting U.S. OK to send Noriega to Panama

Panama  has been assured by France that the former  military dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega  will be returned to Panama as soon as the country receives U.S. government approval.

The statement came from Panama’s Foreign Minister, and Vice President Juan Carlos Varela, after a meeting Tuesday, May 3  with French Foreign Minister, Alain Juppe.
The U.S. must give its approval because Noriega is in France on the basis of an extradition request issued by the Government of France, where he was sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison for laundering drug money. But no date has been agreed.
In April France warned that  the possibilities to extradite Noriega to Panama before the end of His sentence in 2013 were limited.
In Panama, is accused  of corruption and was Sentenced to 15 to 20 years in prison for his role in the murder of opposition leader  Hugo Spadafora and a military man who led an attempted revolt,  Moises Giroldi.
Noriega, was transferred to France from the United States in April 2010 after spending 20  years behind bars, and after numerous failed attempts to avoid extradition.

The government recently tried to auction his former home in Panama, but there were no takers.