Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former chief of staff to the US vice-president, on Tuesday became the highest ranking government official since the Iran-Contra scandal to face imprisonment after a judge jailed him for two and a half years for perjury and obstruction of justice.
The ruling, which drew gasps from the packed court room, marks the closing chapter in a saga that has dogged some of the most senior members of the US government and raised deep questions about how the war in Iraq was justified.
