Interpol has issued an arrest notice for fugitive former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli to face charges he engaged in political espionage during his 2009-2014 term. The Central American country sent the US State Department an extradition request for Martinelli last year, when he was believed to be living in Miami. He was accused of having used government funds to spy illegally on more than 150 political rivals. <br/><br/>Marcos Cordoba, the Police Commissioner assigned to Panama's judicial investigations Directorate, told that Interpol had issued a so-called red notice for Martinelli's arrest. An attorney for Martinelli, a supermarket tycoon, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. But the former President has denied any wrongdoing and said on Twitter yesterday that his successor, Juan Carlos Varela, was going after him to divert attention from his own problems. Panama's Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for Martinelli in December 2015 after he failed to turn up at a Panamanian court hearing on his case.