Noriega Asks Kadafi for Help Against U.S.
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LONDON — Panamanian strongman Manuel A. Noriega has asked for Libyan backing against “American military aggression and economic threats,” Libyan television said Thursday.
The report, monitored in London, said Noriega has spoken to Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi by telephone but did not say when the call was made.
The report said: “During the telephone conversation, Gen. Noriega asked the brother leader (Kadafi) for the support of the Great Jamahiriya (Libya) for the Panamanian people . . . against the American military aggression and economic threats.”
Panama’s banks have been closed since March 1.
In Panama, calls for comment to the presidential office, the Foreign Ministry and the ministry’s chief spokesman were unanswered.
Months ago Noriega asked the Libyan government for financial help, but if he received any response from Kadafi, it was never reported in Panama.
Panama’s foreign minister claimed Tuesday that U.S. military maneuvers along the canal were a “prelude to an armed invasion.”
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