Washington was intercepting telephone and other communications among Panamanian military leaders, the official said.

The Panamanian leader has not expressed any desire to step down.

The Panamanian leader is said to have used the account to make payments to politicians in 1984.

Like the Panamanian leader, he said, the associates were involved in drug trafficking, money-laundering and other illegal activities.

Final details of the proposal are still being worked out, and it is unclear whether the proposal has already been made to the Panamanian leader.

The former Panamanian leader said he was a prisoner of war and demanded trial in a neutral country.

By now the Panamanian leader was becoming personally rattled.

The longer the search goes on, the more difficult it will be to capture the Panamanian leader, officials said.

The Panamanian leader has been indicted in Florida on charges of drug trafficking.

Americans who discovered the articles said they suggested that the Panamanian leader was interested in voodoo practices.