U.S. Appeals Court Refuses Prison Delay For Libby; Bush Commutes Libby's Sentence

A US appeals court has refused to delay the jail sentence of former White House official Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was sentenced over the CIA leak case - Bush Responds By Commuting Libby's Sentence

The BBC reports:

A US appeals court has refused to delay the jail sentence of former White House official Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was sentenced over the CIA leak case.
He had appealed to delay his prison sentence while fighting his conviction.

But the panel of three judges turned him down, ruling he had not shown his appeal "raises a substantial question".

Libby was sentenced to 30 months' jail for obstructing justice and perjury in the inquiry into the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity, in 2003.

Nobody has ever been charged with the offence of leaking the identity of Ms Plame, whose husband criticised the Iraq war.

Renewed pressure

Libby was the former chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney.

He has not yet been assigned a prison or been given a date to begin his sentence. But last week the US Bureau of Prisons gave him federal inmate No. 28301-016.

His lawyers have not yet responded to the latest court ruling, but his supporters have called on President Bush to pardon him.

"I hope it puts pressure on the president. He's a man of pronounced loyalties and he should have loyalty to Scooter Libby," former Ambassador Richard Carlson said, who is also a member of Libby's defence fund.

"It would be a travesty for him to go off to prison. The president will take some heat for it. So what? He takes heat for everything."