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PANAMA CITY, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Former Panamanian leader Manuel Antonio Noriega, is in critical condition on Tuesday after he underwent an operation to remove a benign tumor, his family announced.
His daughters, Thays and Sandra, made a brief statement on their father's condition to the local media.
Noriega's lawyer, Ezra Angel, also explained that his client's condition is worrying, especially as he will have to undergo a second operation after internal bleeding was detected during the first.
He added that 84-year-old Noriega suffered from high blood pressure during the operation, which may have caused the bleeding.
In January, a court in Panama authorized Noriega's transfer from a prison to the apartment of one of his daughters, where he was to remain under house arrest while benefiting from better conditions ahead of his operation.
After the U.S.-backed coup which deposed him in 1989, Noriega was taken to the U.S. where he completed a prison sentence for drug trafficking before being sent to France to answer charges of money laundering.
In 2011, France extradited him back to Panama to face charges related to his period as dictator.
