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By Elida Moreno
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) -Panama's government has approved safe passage for former President Ricardo Martinelli to travel to Nicaragua, where he has been granted asylum, a top Panamanian official said in a press conference on Thursday.
"This asylum is recognized and the safe conduct is granted for strictly humanitarian reasons," Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha said.
Martinelli, who was president of the Central American nation from 2009 to 2014, has been living inside Nicaragua's embassy in Panama City since the country's government moved to arrest him after a court found him guilty of money laundering.
On Thursday afternoon, Martinelli said on Instagram that he would accept the safe passage to move to Nicaragua while he pleaded his innocence once again.
Martinelli's lawyers did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment to elaborate on the former president's plans.
Panama's top court has rejected appeals by Martinelli to annul a nearly 11-year-prison sentence.
Nicaragua's government, which granted asylum to Martinelli in February last year, has in the past granted asylum to two former presidents of nearby El Salvador, Mauricio Funes and Salvador Sanchez.
(Reporting by Elida Moreno; Editing by Kylie Madry and Himani Sarkar)
