Noriega claims drug money conviction is part of political plot

The three-judge panel also ordered the seizure of €2.3 million (1.9m) that has long been frozen in Noriega's accounts.

The verdict was a new defeat for the former strongman and CIA asset, who was accused of joining forces with drug traffickers. Noriega, who gives his age as 76, was deposed after a 1989 US invasion and went on to serve 20 years in a Florida prison for drug trafficking. He was extradited to France in April to stand trial on accusations related to his assets in the country.

The prosecution argued that millions of dollars that passed through Noriega's French accounts during the late 1980s were kickbacks from the powerful Medellin cocaine cartel.

His lawyers had pressed for an acquittal, saying the trial was part of a political plot against him and arguing that Noriega's age and poor health meant he would certainly die behind bars if convicted. Noriega has blood pressure problems and is paralysed on the left side following a stroke, his lawyers say. There has long been confusion about his true date of birth.

He served out his American sentence in 2007, but stayed behind bars for 32 months during a protracted battle to fight extradition to France. Defence lawyer Antonin Levy said those 32 months counted toward the French sentence, which would mean Noriega could be up for parole within a year.

Panama has also sought Noriega's extradition, and if France agrees, he could be sent to the Central American country at any time, Mr Levy said. Noriega was sentenced to 60 years in prison in Panama after he was convicted in absentia of embezzlement, corruption and murdering opponents.

In court, Noriega portrayed himself as a foe of drug traffickers and said the money in his French accounts came from personal and family businesses. He also said some of it was payments from the CIA.

Noriega had been considered an important CIA asset before he joined forces with drug traffickers and was implicated in the death of a political opponent.

Defence lawyer Olivier Metz-ner said he believed the verdict showed that the CIA was "continuing to settle their political scores".

"It's a decision that has a political connotation, which will doubtless please American authorities," he said.

In an energetic hour-long monologue in court last week, Noriega said his problems began when he refused to co-operate in a US plan aimed at removing the left-wing Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980s.

France convicted Noriega and his wife in absentia in 1999 for laundering cocaine profits through three major French banks and using drug cash to invest in three luxurious Paris apartments on the Left Bank. He was granted a retrial.

Noriega is being held at the La Sante prison in southern Paris. His lawyers say the prison is squalid and unfit for a man of his age and rank.

France has also refused to grant him prisoner of war status, which he had in the US

Behind bars in Miami, Noriega had perks including the right to wear his military uniform and insignia. In France, he is not allowed to wear his uniform and has showed up in court in an ordinary business suit.