Panama extends safe passage for ex-president Martinelli to travel to Nicaragua

Panama's government said on Monday it had extended by three days its allowance for safe passage for its former President Ricardo Martinelli to travel to Nicaragua, where he has received asylum.

Martinelli, who was sentenced to over a decade in prison in Panama for money laundering, has been living in the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City since February last year, after Panama's Supreme Court confirmed his sentence.

Panama had approved safe passage for Martinelli last week but the process hit a hurdle when the country's judicial branch requested that an Interpol red notice be sought against the former president - a request Panama's police rejected.

In a statement shared on local TV on Monday, Nicaragua's government demanded that Panama provide clarity on the issue and said the red notice request amounted to an ambush.