Panama ex-dictator Noriega has surgery to remove brain tumor
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2011, file photo, Panama's ex-dictator Manuel Noriega gestures while being carried in a wheelchair by a police officer inside El Renacer prison in the outskirts of Panama City. Speaking to local television network the former Panamanian strongman broke his long silence in a interview from jail, aired on Wednesday, June 24, 2015, asking his compatriots to forgive actions by the military that culminated in the 1989 American invasion. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File)
The daughter of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega says he had an operation to remove a benign brain tumor.
Thays Noriega says her father is out of surgery and in intensive care at a Panama City hospital.
Hospital officials have not given a report on Tuesday's operation and did not answer phone calls seeking comment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The 83-year-old former strongman had been in prison for corruption and the killings of opponents during his 1983-89 regime.
He was transferred to house arrest Jan. 29 to prepare for the procedure originally scheduled for Feb. 15.
Noriega was ousted by a U.S. invasion in 1989 and jailed for years in the United States on drug charges. He was then imprisoned in France for money laundering and returned to Panama in 2011.