U.S. Pursuit Exhausted Noriega, Pentagon Says

WASHINGTON —  A relentless, hounding pursuit by U.S. soldiers succeeded in wearing out deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel A. Noriega and forcing him out of hiding, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

“We ran Gen. Noriega to ground,” Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said in a television interview.

According to Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams, a Noriega bodyguard who turned himself in to U.S. forces told stories of Noriega’s sleepless nights on the lam. The Panamanian bodyguard, who was not named, described Panama’s deposed leader as “so exhausted from the chase he could barely speak” when he arrived at the papal nunciature to seek asylum.

During the massive, five-day manhunt, “Noriega got no rest, with U.S. troops constantly on his tail,” Williams said. “It’s clear that Noriega was not in command of the PDF (Panamanian Defense Forces) during the battle because he was too busy trying to save his own skin and was moving around constantly.”

Pentagon officials had acknowledged that U.S. intelligence agents had pinpointed Noriega’s location the day before the 24,000-man invasion began Dec. 20. But Noriega eluded his American pursuers and moved from hiding place to hiding place before seeking protection from the Vatican.

While on the run, Noriega lost some of his voodoo paraphernalia and wore red underwear to escape the “evil eye,” U.S. officials in Panama asserted.

News of Noriega’s anguished days on the run came as the U.S. military set about its final and perhaps most intractable mission in Panama--rebuilding the nation’s political, military and economic structures left in chaos by the U.S. invasion.

By today, American military planes will have carried 31 tons of medical supplies, millions of meals and 10,000 blankets to Panama. In addition, defense sources said, a military detachment of civil affairs specialists arrived in Panama from Ft. Bragg, N.C., to help the new government of Guillermo Endara establish itself.

Meanwhile, recently arrived U.S. troops moved to western Panama, in areas that are traditional Noriega strongholds, responding to reports of arms caches and activity by remaining “Dignity Battalions.”

“There’s a real sense that things are getting back to normal,” Cheney said.

A total of 33,000 weapons had been captured or turned in by Tuesday, and U.S. forces encountered “very little resistance,” Williams said.

The Bush Administration said Tuesday that it will send a team of specialists from several key government agencies to Panama next week to assess the economic situation there and recommend measures to help put Panama’s economy back on its feet.

Times staff writer Art Pine contributed to this story.