EDMUNDSTON, N.B. - A large potato farming operation owned by a New Brunswick man jailed in Lebanon will remain under creditor protection for a few more weeks.

A judge has granted an extension until Dec. 16 to give lawyers time to finalize a plan to deal with more than $11 million in debt carried by companies owned by Henk Tepper.

His lawyer, Bob Creamer, says the court found that the companies are acting in good faith and with due diligence.

Tepper has spent the past eight months in a Beirut prison.

He was detained under an international arrest warrant over allegations that he exported rotten potatoes to Algeria in 2007.

His family and lawyers are hoping the federal government can do something to secure his release.