<p>Noriega, now 77, was toppled in a US invasion of Panama in 1989 and has spent the last two decades behind bars, first in Florida and then in France after being convicted for drug trafficking and money laundering during his time in power.<br /><br />Panama’s attorney general and a doctor are part of the team accompanying Noriega on a commercial flight back to his homeland via Madrid.<br /><br />He boarded a plane at about 0730 local time (0630 GMT) after leaving Paris’ La Sante prison in a police convoy and was due to arrive in Panama on Sunday evening.<br /><br />A physically diminished shadow of the strongman once known for waving a machete while delivering fiery speeches, Noriega’s return is unlikely to have a major political impact on a country that has enjoyed an economic boom in recent years.<br /><br />Widely reviled when he was Panama’s de facto leader from 1983 until 1989, his small cadre of remaining supporters has kept a low profile and even bitter opponents dismiss Noriega as part of a distant, shadowy past. Much of the focus on Noriega will be on whether he sheds any light on the dictatorship’s mysteries, including some 100 unsolved killings or disappearances in the period of army rule from 1968 to 1989.<br /><br />Noriega was convicted in absentia in three homicide cases involving 11 murders, including the 1985 beheading of Hugo Spadafora, a physician who threatened to reveal Noriega’s drug ties, and the 1989 execution-style slaying of nine officers who staged a failed coup.</p>
<p>Noriega, now 77, was toppled in a US invasion of Panama in 1989 and has spent the last two decades behind bars, first in Florida and then in France after being convicted for drug trafficking and money laundering during his time in power.<br /><br />Panama’s attorney general and a doctor are part of the team accompanying Noriega on a commercial flight back to his homeland via Madrid.<br /><br />He boarded a plane at about 0730 local time (0630 GMT) after leaving Paris’ La Sante prison in a police convoy and was due to arrive in Panama on Sunday evening.<br /><br />A physically diminished shadow of the strongman once known for waving a machete while delivering fiery speeches, Noriega’s return is unlikely to have a major political impact on a country that has enjoyed an economic boom in recent years.<br /><br />Widely reviled when he was Panama’s de facto leader from 1983 until 1989, his small cadre of remaining supporters has kept a low profile and even bitter opponents dismiss Noriega as part of a distant, shadowy past. Much of the focus on Noriega will be on whether he sheds any light on the dictatorship’s mysteries, including some 100 unsolved killings or disappearances in the period of army rule from 1968 to 1989.<br /><br />Noriega was convicted in absentia in three homicide cases involving 11 murders, including the 1985 beheading of Hugo Spadafora, a physician who threatened to reveal Noriega’s drug ties, and the 1989 execution-style slaying of nine officers who staged a failed coup.</p>