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Cameron asks Obama for McKinnon compromise

Please sir

Supporters of Gary McKinnon have praised the Prime Minister for raising the Pentagon hacker's long-running extradition case during a meeting with President Barack Obama on Monday.

Speaking after the meeting, David Cameron said he hoped "a way through" can be found in the case, The Guardian reports.

McKinnon, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, has been fighting extradition to the US for the last six years. Family and supporters of McKinnon fear he is too mentally frail to withstand the stress of a US trial and likely imprisonment.

Cameron later suggested a compromise whereby McKinnon might be allowed to serve part of his sentence in the UK.

"Work has been going on to try and see if there isn't some way of dealing with this case where perhaps the sentences given in America that some of the - if there is a prison sentence - is served in a British prison," Cameron told BBC Radio 5Live.

Obama said it was not possible for him to intervene in the case personally, while expressing the hope that the case can be resolved in a way that acknowledges the seriousness of the charges against McKinnon. US authorities blame McKinnon for crashing systems at the US Army’s Military District of Washington and causing $800, 000 in damages.

McKinnon admits hacking into insecure US military systems during a hunt for evidence of UFO encounters and suppressed alien tech but denies causing any damage.

"One of the traditions we have is that the President doesn't get involved in decisions around prosecutions, extradition matters," Obama said, The Telegraph reports.

"I trust that this will get resolved in a way that underscores the seriousness of the issue, but also underscores the fact that we work together, we can find an appropriate solution," he added.

Janis Sharp, McKinnon's mother, welcomed the discussion between the two leaders while restating the aim to have her son tried in the UK, if anywhere.

"I'm amazed and over the moon that David Cameron has discussed Gary's case with Obama & there's hope," she said in a Twitter update. ®

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