Noriega gets new extradition hearing

Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega will get a new hearing on France’s request to extradite him on money-laundering charges, a federal judge decided in Miami.

But U.S. District Judge Paul Huck said he would limit the hearing to the question of whether the French government had provided sufficient guarantees that Noriega would continue to be treated as a prisoner of war protected by the Geneva Conventions.

Huck did not set a date but indicated the hearing would occur this month.

France wants to put Noriega on trial for allegedly laundering more than $3 million in drug proceeds through French banks, using some of the money to buy luxury apartments in Paris. He faces 10 years in prison if convicted.