By DPA
Washington : A US federal judge Tuesday approved the extradition of former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega to France after his 17-year prison term on drug charges ends next month, his lawyer confirmed.
Noriega is scheduled to be released Sep 9 and had sought to be sent back to his native country, which had also sought his extradition. But a federal judge in Miami rejected that request on Friday.
A French court convicted Noriega in absentia in 1999 on money laundering charges and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
Noriega was captured during the 1989 US invasion of Panama and convicted in 1992 of smuggling drugs through Panama into the United States.
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