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Panama says Noriega will be jailed upon his return

"His whole life is in Panama and obviously he wants to return to Panama."

Frank Rubino, Manuel Noriega's attorney

Panama will throw former military leader Manuel Noriega in jail if he tries to return home after leaving a US prison later this year, the government said on Wednesday.

A Sept. 9 release date has been set for Noriega, who was captured by US forces after the 1989 invasion of Panama and then jailed in Florida on charges that he let Colombian traffickers use Panama as a transit hub for US-bound drugs.

"I think, under the circumstances, he has served a sufficient sentence," said Senior US District Judge William Hoeveler, quoted by the Miami Herald newspaper.

Upon his release, Noriega may be promptly extradited to Panama or France, where charges are pending, the paper wrote.

His lawyer said Noriega, 70, wants to go home at the end of his 15 years behind bars to enjoy time with his grandchildren and fight a murder conviction against him.

"His whole life is in Panama and obviously he wants to return to Panama," attorney Frank Rubino said, adding that Noriega was healthy and in good spirits.

Noriega was convicted in absentia by Panama's courts for murder and Justice Minister Olga Golcher said his reception might not be the one he hopes for.

"On entering the country and as a convict, he is immediately put at the order of the prison system," Golcher told journalists.

She said Panama requested Noriega's extradition from the US in 1991 but was never given a reply.

"If the United States concedes it, we would have to take the corresponding measures to take charge of the detainee. If they decide to deny it, the United States will have to see if it keeps him in the country and under what status, or if he goes to a third country," she said.

Noriega wants to challenge his conviction in Panama for the 1985 torture-slaying of Hugo Spadafora, a doctor and journalist who was one of his most vocal critics. Noriega was convicted in absentia to 20 years in prison.

"He will move to reopen that case so he can clear himself," his lawyer Rubino said.

He was convicted in a Miami federal court in 1992 of trafficking, racketeering and conspiracy. The sentence was for 40 years but it was reduced to 30 years and he has been granted additional breaks for good behavior and time served.

Noriega had worked with the CIA for years but fell out of Washington's favor amid charges of narcotics trafficking and jeopardizing the neutrality of the Panama Canal.
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