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.

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.

A French national held on death row in Indonesia since 2007 for drug offences is returning to France on Tuesday 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, where dozens of kilos (pounds) of drugs were found.

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

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. Serge Atlaoui, who has spent almost 20 years in an Indonesian prison for drug offenses,

French national Serge Atlaoui is set to go home after he spent two decades on death row in an Indonesian prison for alleged drug offenses.

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.

A Frenchman on death row in Indonesia since 2007 for drug offences left for France on Tuesday, with his lawyer saying he was "happy and calm" ahead of returning home.

A Frenchman reprieved after 18 years on death row in Indonesia for alleged drug offences landed back in France on Wednesday, an airport source said. Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws and has executed foreigners in the past.