U.S. troops early Tuesday ringed the Peruvian Embassy, where government officials said two of Manuel Antonio Noriega's top associates - one alleged to be a torturer - had taken refuge.
The two were considered the most-wanted men on the list of former Noriega officials sought by the U.S. military and by the new Panamanian government's security forces in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion that ousted Noriega.They were identified as Capt. Gonzalo Gonzalez, commander of the Machos de Monte company that provided security for Noriega's headquarters, and Lt. Col. Luis Cordoba, identified by Noriega's foes as one of the men who interrogated and tortured prisoners of the overthrown regime.
U.S. troops initially surrounded the embassy in suburban El Cangrejo, near the banking district, at noon Monday.
Foreign Minister Julio Linares said Cordoba was inside. Another government source said Gonzalez was also inside and so were Noriega secretary Marcela Tazon, her son and another high-ranking former government official.
Linares said he would ask the Peruvian mission and other embassies in Panama for official confirmation and identification of Noriega associates who had requested asylum.
There was no immediate reaction from Lima and a small detachment of American soldiers remained outside the embassy through the night.
In other developments Monday:
-A bond hearing for Noriega was set for Tuesday at the request of prosecutors, amid reports that the fallen Panamanian dictator may be moved to a more secure federal penitentiary later in the day.
The hearing was scheduled before U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler. If Noriega appears for the hearing, it would be his second court appearance since being arrested Wednesday in Panama and brought to south Florida.
Noriega, who faces federal drug trafficking charges, was arraigned Thursday before Hoeveler.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that authorities planned to move Noriega from his Miami holding cell to a more secure federal facility, possibly in Atlanta. The Justice Department refused to comment on Noriega's whereabouts or the possibility of a move because of security concerns.
-Noriega's fall will have little impact on drug trafficking and money laundering, say experts who say drug lords changed operations three years ago when the United States reversed its support of the Panamanian dictator.
"In terms of any impact on the flow of drugs or money through the banking system, the impact of Noriega's arrest will be nil," said Rensselaer Lee III, a consultant and lecturer who specializes in Latin American drug trafficking issues.
Drug traffickers have looked elsewhere since Panama's usefulness as a money-laundering center was dimmed in 1987, and the Central American nation was never a major transit point for drugs anyway, experts say.
-The government said it was studying whether it would allow Noriega's family safe passage to the Dominican Republic. His wife Felicidad, three daughters and son-in-law, a Dominican, have taken refuge in the Cuban Embassy.
-President Guillermo Endara sent a letter to President Bush asking for financial aid to create 24,000 jobs and for loans to compensate businesses looted by rampaging crowds following the U.S. invasion. Looters caused an estimated $1.5 billion in damage.
But Panamanians were cautioned not to expect "billions of dollars" in U.S. aid. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate's Western Hemisphere subcommittee, said Monday that funds available for Panama's reconstruction were limited because of Washington's unexpected but mounting foreign aid commitments to the rapidly liberalizing nations of Eastern Europe.
-The daily La Prensa, closed nearly two years ago by Noriega, resumed publication with an editorial that assailed the Organization of American States for voting to "deplore" the U.S. invasion.
It said the United States had freed Panama "from a barbarian, corrupt and demented tyranny that would have led the country to total ruin with serious risk to the operation of the Panama Canal" and to the political stability of other Latin American countries.
-More than 600 members of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division left Panama and returned to Fort Bragg, N.C. In all, about 26,000 U.S. troops took part in the invasion.
Arias would not specify when further U.S. troop withdrawals would occur, but said he expected them to be gradual over the next few weeks.
-Military officials say a female captain praised for leading a unit into combat in Panama was a half-mile away at the start of the fight but gave the critical orders and rushed to the scene when the firing began.
The Los Angeles Times had published a Saturday story that the Army said news accounts of Capt. Linda Bray's involvement in the battle - at a Panamanian Defense Forces kennel - "later repeated by White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater, were grossly exaggerated."