Time out a regular expression in Python 2.6.4?

[python at bdurham.com]

Is there any way to time out a regular expression in Python
2.6.4?

Motiviation: Our application allows users to enter regular
expressions as validation criteria. If a user enters a
pathological regular expression, we would like to timeout the
evaluation of this expression after a short period of time.

Thank you,
Malcolm
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