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| Bush spares Libby from jail term |
| US President George W Bush has intervened to prevent Lewis Libby, a convicted former vice-presidential aide, from serving a prison term.
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| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, 3-July-2007
4:15:48 AM |
| President Bush described as "excessive" the 30-month sentence Libby was facing for obstructing an inquiry into the leaking of a CIA agent's name.
Though no longer required to go to jail, Libby is still due to serve a period of probation and pay a fine.
A leading Democratic politician said Mr Bush's decision was "disgraceful".
History will judge the president "harshly" for using his power to benefit his vice-president's former chief of staff, Harry Reid, the leading Democrat in the US Senate, said.
The BBC's James Westhead in Washington said the president's decision was a compromise between pardoning Libby outright and allowing his sentence to stand.
'Criminal conduct'
Lewis Libby, also known by his nickname, "Scooter" Libby, was found guilty in March of perjury and obstructing justice in a case connected to Washington's decision to invade Iraq.
His trial stemmed from the accusation that the White House had illegally made public the identity of a serving CIA agent, Valerie Plame, in an apparent effort to embarrass her husband.
Ms Plame's husband, a former US diplomat, had publicly criticised the basis for the invasion of Iraq.
Libby was found to have lied to investigators about conversations where he mentioned Ms Plame but he was not convicted of having directly leaked her name.
He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, two years of probation and a fine of $250,000 (£125,000).
Democratic leader Harry Reid said the conviction was "the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq war".
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