Truth commission on US invasion of Panama

A truth commission will examine the 1989 US invasion of Panama, the country's foreign minister says.

A relative of victims of the US invasion to Panama in 1989 adjusts a little flag as he visits a cemetery in Panama City Source: Supplied

A truth commission will examine the US invasion of Panama, which took place more than 25 years ago and toppled military dictator General Manuel Noriega.

The commission will look at victims of the military operation launched by the United States at the end of 1989, Panama Foreign Minister Isabel Saint Malo said.

The number of people estimated killed in operation Just Cause is more than 3000, including numerous civilians.

But the exact number of victims and their identities isn't known because many bodies were buried in mass graves.

After a long period of co-operation with the US, Noriega fell out of favour with the country toward the end of the 1980s because of his ties with the Medellin drug cartel and human rights abuses.

Noriega, 81, spent more than two decades in prison in the US and France on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

He is serving out the last years of his sentence in Panama.