<p><br /> The US has extradited former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to France, clearing the way for him to stand trial there on money laundering charges.<br /> </p><p><br /> Noriega, who had been held in a federal prison just outside Miami, was placed on an overnight Air France flight to Paris.<br /> </p><p><br /> His lawyers say he will be turned over to French prosecutors and taken before a judge who will determine whether he should remain in custody pending further action.<br /> </p><p><br /> Noriega was ousted as Panama's leader and put on trial following a 1989 US military invasion ordered by President George H.W. Bush.<br /> </p><p><br /> He was brought to Miami and was convicted of drug racketeering and related charges in 1992. France requested his extradition shortly before his US drug trafficking sentence ended in September 2007.<br /> </p><p><br /> The French claim Noriega laundered some $3 million in drug proceeds by purchasing luxury apartments in Paris. Noriega was convicted in absentia, but France agreed to give him a new trial if he was extradited.<br /> </p><p><br /> He faces up to 10 years in French prison if convicted.<br /> </p>
