Noriega arrives Sunday while Panamians greet Santa

PANAMA’S FORMER DICTATOR Manuel Antonio Noriega will be extradited from France to Panama on Sunday, while thousands of citizens will be waiting on the CInta Costera for the Christmas parade.

 His French lawyer Yves Leberquier said it was "good news" that "this tired old man" will be back home "after more than 20 years in U.S. and French prisons." 

The French authorities approved two requests for extradition to Panama, where the former strong man faces  more jail time for two cases in which he was convicted in absentia. 

Noriega was overthrown in 1989 by a U.S. invasion, and was convicted in Miama of drug trafficking and sent to prison for 20 years.

The United States extradited him to France in April 2010 to answer charges of laundering about $3 million in drug money. The French courts sentenced him to seven years in prison.

The “tired old man” also faces multiple murder charges. President Ricardo Martinelli has promised that he will go straight to jail when he arrives, and his future will be in the hands of the judges.