Noriega set to be extradited to Panama on murder charge

France on Monday began proceedings to extradite former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to his home country before he serves out his seven-year sentence for money-laundering.

Noriega served 20 years in a federal prison in Florida after he was convicted of drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering. He was extradited last July to France where he was sentenced in absentia in 1999.

Since his release from a US prison, Panama has been demanding Noriega's extradition to put him on trial in connection with the killing of the leader of an attempted military coup in 1989. He also faces charges of murdering political opponents.

Carmenza Spadafora, whose brother Hugo Spadafora was murdered by Noriega's military forces, said she was opposed to allowing the former dictator back into the country. "I think most Panamanians would have preferred that he stay in France," she told La Estrella de Panamá daily.

France agreed to return the former general to Panama after the United States gave its approval for him to be extradited. Washington's consent was required under existing treaties since he has not yet served his full term in France, the Associated Press reports. Noriega came to power in Panama in 1983 and stayed on until he was ousted by US forces in 1989.