EL GENERAL NORIEGA VUELVE A PANAMA

Noriega was toppled in a US invasion of Panama in 1989 and had spent the last two decades behind bars, first in Florida and then in France after being convicted for drug trafficking and money laundering.

Accompanied by Panama's attorney general and a doctor, he arrived on Sunday evening from France on a commercial flight and was flown in a helicopter to the outskirts of a jungle-surrounded penitentiary beside the Panama Canal.

The 77-year-old was driven into the prison past a small group of protesters and media in a sports utility vehicle and bundled into a wheelchair.

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.

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.PANAMA