MIAMI (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Tuesday approved the extradition of former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega to face money laundering charges in France when his long Florida prison sentence for drug smuggling ends next month.

The decision by Magistrate William Turnoff followed a separate court ruling last Friday rejecting arguments from Noriega’s lawyers that his status as a “prisoner of war” under the Geneva Conventions meant he had to be immediately returned home when his U.S. sentence ends on September 9.

“This court will issue a certificate of extraditability with respect to Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega,” Turnoff said at the end of a 30-minute hearing in Miami.

Turnoff said he would issue the extradition order on Wednesday for the now 73-year-old Noriega, who was jailed in the United States almost two decades ago for drug smuggling and racketeering after he was captured by U.S. forces following the 1989 invasion of Panama.

Noriega, making his third court appearance since July 26 and clad in the uniform of a military that was unceremoniously disbanded after the U.S. invasion, showed no apparent emotion as Turnoff pronounced his ruling.

Noriega’s attorney, Frank Rubino, said his client had not yet decided whether to appeal. But if he did, he would challenge the legality of Friday’s ruling on his POW status.

In last week’s decision, U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler, who presided over Noriega’s 1992 trial, said the protections awarded him under the Geneva Conventions placed no restrictions on his possible extradition to a third country.

Rubino said France had indicated it would treat Noriega as a common criminal, and not as a prisoner of war.

“Without the POW status he could be put in the Bastille underground,” Rubino told reporters. “Maybe he would be held with people of a violent nature who could hurt him.”

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