Noriega Will Be Safe, Bush Assures Pope : Panama: The ousted leader will get a fair trial, the President said. U.S. troops have started pulling out of the Central American country.

President Bush personally assured Pope John Paul II today that ousted Panamanian military ruler Manuel Antonio Noriega will receive all the protection of U.S. laws and be given a fair trial.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater, describing Bush as “fairly upbeat” after Noriega’s surrender to U.S. authorities Wednesday night, said the President gave the assurances during a telephone call to the Pope.

Fitzwater also said the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Army Gen. Colin L. Powell, was on his way to Panama to discuss U.S. troop withdrawals now that the United States has achieved the objectives of its Dec. 20 invasion of the Central American country.

The Pentagon said 2,000 of the 12,000 troops sent to Panama for the invasion have been removed, replaced by 2,000 military personnel given civilian, noncombat duties.

Fitzwater predicted “a fairly steady stream of withdrawals over the next several weeks.” About 12,000 troops regularly stationed in Panama will remain after the withdrawal is completed.

Bush, who also telephoned Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney today to express gratitude for Ottawa’s support, thanked the pontiff for the “distinguished efforts of the Vatican” to end the stalemate over Noriega, Fitzwater said.

“He assured the Pope that Gen. Noriega would be treated to all the protections of U.S. law and receive a fair trial,” Fitzwater said.

The presidential spokesman said the Vatican sought and received public U.S. assurances last week that the charges facing Noriega do not carry the death penalty. He said that the United States never negotiated with Noriega and that “there were no concessions or deals as far as the United States is concerned” to get Noriega to voluntarily give himself up.

The deposed leader’s surrender in Panama City and transfer to Florida to face drug charges that carry a maximum sentence of 145 years in prison ended a 10 day-siege at the Vatican Embassy, where Noriega had taken refuge from U.S. forces.

Noriega’s apprehension climaxed almost two years of U.S. efforts to bring him to trial in Miami.

Fitzwater, at his daily news briefing today, provided additional details of Noriega’s surrender to U.S. troops who were ringing the Vatican Embassy.

Noriega was handcuffed after he was taken into custody, advised in Spanish of his legal rights and examined by U.S. military doctors who found that he had “no discernible abnormalities and appeared to be in good health,” Fitzwater said.