Moscow - An American sentenced to 20 years in a prison camp for spying has asked President Vladimir Putin for a pardon, saying in a letter that he wanted to see his dying father and needed medical care.
Mr Putin has agreed to consider the request by Edmond Pope and has referred the matter to a pardons commission which will meet today, according to a Kremlin official. Pope's wife, Cheri, as well as a number of US politicians, have denounced the jail term as a death sentence, saying he will die if sent to a Siberian labour camp.