Noriega sent home to face jail term

A FRENCH court has granted a conditional release from jail to former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, paving the way for him to be extradited to Panama to serve 20-years for human rights crimes.

Noriega, 77, who was removed in a 1989 US invasion, has been jailed in France on a seven-year sentence for money-laundering after serving 20 years in US prison for drug trafficking and racketeering.