US Officials end a stint in Canal Zone transition
United States officials in the Panama Canal Zone were scheduled to pack their bags and head home as the transitional US police and court system which operated there for 30 months officially ended March 31. All US laws and regulations ceased to apply in the five-mile-wide zone, in the process of being turned over to Panamanian rule by Jan. 1, 2000. Under the congressionally authorized Panama Canal treaties, the next step in the transition comes in 1990, when a Panamanian official will take over as administrator of the Panama Canal Commission.