With just four days remaining before Bermuda-born Tracy Housel is due to be executed by lethal injection in a Georgia prison, efforts to have his sentence commuted to a term of imprisonment have now reached the pinnacle of the British government.

Yesterday, his official spokesman confirmed that Prime Minister Tony Blair is not only aware of Housel's case, but will be discussing the best way forward with his Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw.

“We had made clear consistently that we opposed the death penalty, and we would continue to do whatever was necessary to make the appropriate representations,” the spokesman said.

Mr. Straw had made personal representations for clemency to the Governor of Georgia, but was told the final decision rested with the state's Pardons and Paroles Board.

Yesterday's announcement of Mr. Blair's direct involvement in the Housel came on the same day that human rights activists demonstrated for clemency outside the Prime Minister's official London residence, No. 10 Downing Street.

Housel, 43, is one of four British nationals on death row in the US, and has been confined in a Georgia prison for almost 17 years following his conviction in 1986 for the murder of a woman he met at a truck stop shortly before her death.

That the British Prime Minister plans to intervene on Housel's behalf is in sharp contrast to the reaction of Premier Jennifer Smith who has consistently failed to respond to all attempts by top representatives of the British Government, members of his defence team, and The Royal Gazette to contact her.