Indonesia has signed a deal to send home an ailing French national on death row for drug offenses. Serge Atlaoui, 61, has spent almost 20 years in an Indonesian prison.

Indonesia was set to repatriate a Frenchman on Tuesday who has spent two decades on death row for drug offences, a senior minister said, joining a list of long-term prisoners sent home by Jakarta in recent months.

Indonesian authorities have escorted an ailing French national who has been on death row to the airport in Jakarta as his return to France got underway following an agreement between the two nations.

A French national held on death row in Indonesia since 2007 for drug offences has left prison to return to France as part of an agreement made between both countries. Serge Atlaoui, 61, was accused of being a "chemist" by Indonesian authorities and arrested in 2005 at a factory in Jakarta,

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities on Tuesday were set to return an ailing French national who has been on death row in the Southeast Asian country, under an arrangement between the two nations.

A Frenchman on death row in Indonesia since 2007 for drug offences left prison on Tuesday ahead of his transfer to France, joining a list of long-term prisoners sent home by Jakarta in recent months.

Serge Atlaoui (center), a Frenchman on death row in Indonesia since 2007 for drug offenses, looks on during a press conference at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, after leaving Salemba prison ahead of his repatriation to France on Feb. 4. (Photo: AFP)

A Frenchman on death row in Indonesia since 2007 for drug offences left prison on Tuesday ahead of his transfer to France, officials told AFP.

Indonesia has handed over to French authorities a man on death row for drug offences who will start his return to his home country late on Tuesday, the latest in a series of foreign drug convicts repatriated from the Southeast Asian nation.