Noriega from jail to house arrest

PANAMA’S former military dictator  Manuel Antonio Noriega  who has been behind bars since the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989, will be moving to house arrest during the next few days

The move is being made so the octogenarian, currently in El Renacer prison can prepare for neurological surgery, one of its lawyers said Monday.

Ezra Ángel, of Noriega’s legal team, said that the house arrest was arranged, last week through a ruling of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.

A Supreme Court source, who asked not to be identified because she was not authorized to comment on the case, confirmed the ruling.

The 82-year-old ex-dictator must undergo surgery to remove  a Benign tumor inn the head.

Noriega was extradited from France in December 2011 after two decades of imprisonment in the  United States and Paris.