MANUEL Antonio Noriega, who took power in Panama in 1983 and was ousted by American forces in 1989, died late yesterday in Panama City, a government official said.

Noriega, 83, died in the Panama City public Santo Tomas hospital where he had been recovering from early March surgery 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 dictatorship, 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 return to prison once he recovered from the brain tumour surgery.  AFP, May 30, 2017.