Panama City — Panama’s former dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega has died. Noriega, 83, passed away in the Panama City public Santo Tomas hospital late on Monday. He had been recovering from surgery he had in early March to remove a brain tumour, and a subsequent operation to clean up cerebral bleeding. The announcement of his death was made by government communications secretary Manuel Dominguez. "Mr Noriega died tonight [late Monday]," Dominguez told AFP. Noriega had been serving prison time for murder and forced disappearances during his 1983-89 rule, and was being held in a prison cell overlooking the Panama Canal. The ex-strongman had been granted temporary release on February 28 to undergo the medical procedure. Following years of ill-health that included respiratory problems, prostate cancer and depression, Noriega’s family pleaded with authorities to him to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest. But the government rejected their appeals, and said Noriega would retur...
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