French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin wrote to US presidential...

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin wrote to US presidential candidate and Texas governor, George W. Bush, to ask for clemency to be granted to death row inmate Odell Barnes. Barnes, 31, was scheduled for execution on March 1 for murdering his girlfriend in 1991. He had been on death row in Huntsville prison, Texas for eight years. Former French culture minister and Paris mayor candidate Jack Lang tried earlier in February to persuade Texas authorities to allow a retrial for Barnes, saying the man "seemed to be obviously innocent of his crime." Texas is one of 38 US states that authorise the death penalty.