Bush condemns US abuse of prisoners, asks for more war money

1.00pm - By STEVE HOLLAND and ALASTAIR MACDONALD

WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD - United States President George W Bush on Wednesday sought to repair damage to America's image caused by the scandal over prisoner abuse in Iraq by promising on Arab television that the guilty soldiers would be punished.

"In a democracy everything is not perfect. Mistakes are made. But in a democracy as well those mistakes will be investigated and people will be brought to justice," he told the US-funded Alhurra channel. He also spoke to Al-Arabiya.

Bush did not explicitly apologise for the abuse, which prompted international outrage particularly in the Arab world, after pictures of Iraqi prisoners being sexually humiliated appeared last week. He left the public apologies to top aides.

As the military, diplomatic and financial costs of the war mounted, Bush asked Congress for an additional US$25 billion ($39.80 billion) for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, breaking a pledge not to seek more money before the November election.

Fighting continued on Wednesday more than a year after Bush declared major conflict over. Three American soldiers were killed in the town of Diwaniya during clashes with the militia loyal to wanted Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

In an interview with the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya channel, Bush said, "Our citizens in America are appalled by what they saw, just like people in the Middle East are appalled." He called the abuse "abhorrent."

A week after pictures were published of grinning US soldiers abusing naked Iraqis at a prison once used by Saddam Hussein's torturers, the US army revealed that 25 prisoners had died in Iraq and Afghanistan in US custody.

They included two Iraqis murdered by Americans, one death described as justifiable homicide, and 12 deaths by natural or undetermined causes. Ten were still being investigated.

The CIA said on Wednesday it was investigating the deaths of three prisoners who were interrogated by its personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan but it did not say if these were among the 25 reported by the Army.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, under increasing fire from US lawmakers, will discuss the scandal before the Senate Armed Services Committee in an open session on Friday, committee chairman John Warner said.

Warner, a Virginia Republican, said Rumsfeld would also hold a closed briefing for the full Senate. He and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, said they were appalled by the prisoner abuse.

Bush aides said the president had upbraided Rumsfeld for not having alerted him to the severity of the abuse before the photographs were screened a week ago on CBS' 60 Minutes 2.

The pictures were taken by some of the six soldiers now facing court-martial in the case. They have been splashed across newspapers around the world, dealing a severe blow to US credibility, particularly in the Arab world.

At Abu Ghraib prison, outside Baghdad, where nearly 4000 Iraqis are held, hundreds marched outside the heavily guarded walls demanding the release of relatives. Some vowed vengeance.

At a coffee shop in Baghdad, where men gathered to watch Bush on television, one customer, Abdul-Kader Abdul-Rahim, said he doubted any US investigation into the abuse would change conditions in Iraq.

"I do believe the president when he talks about investigation ... But what is happening in Iraq is different from their democratic regimes. We're all treated like prisoners here," he said.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters in Washington after the interviews that Bush was "deeply sorry for what occurred, and the pain that it has caused".

Asked why Bush had not said so himself, the spokesman replied: "I'm saying it for him right now ... and (national security adviser) Condi Rice said it yesterday."

A US general's probe into abuse at Abu Ghraib recounted detainees being sodomised, beaten, kept naked for days and forced to masturbate while being filmed.

The general put in charge of the prisons in the wake of the report apologised and vowed there would be no repeat of abuse, saying beatings, hooding and other practices were banned.

Thousands of about 10,000 Iraqis still held would be freed, said Major General Geoffrey Miller, who had previously run the prison for terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Bay US Naval base on Cuba.

However, another US military official said the United States planned to hold prisoners in Iraq after June 30, when Bush intends to hand formal sovereignty to a transitional Iraqi authority.

The official said the interim constitution passed by the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council and a previously adopted UN Security Council resolution provided for the continued incarceration of Iraqis by Americans.

The White House had insisted it would not need extra money for the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan until next year, but the surge in violence in Iraq and pressure from fellow Republicans has forced Bush to reverse course.

"Recent developments on the ground and increased demands on our troops indicate the need to plan for contingencies," Bush said in a statement asking for the additional US$25 billion to be made available in a special "contingency reserve fund."

A level of about 138,000 US troops will be maintained in Iraq through 2005, Rumsfeld has said, saying there would be increased attacks in the run-up to the June hand-over.

Last month was the bloodiest of the war for the Americans, with 129 killed in action.

Democrat John Kerry, who will challenge Bush in the November election, charged the Bush administration with reacting slowly and inappropriately to the abuse scandal and called on the president to express regret.

In his first public remarks on the controversy, Kerry sidestepped the question of whether Bush should offer an outright apology or whether Rumsfeld should resign.

Abuse allegations have also hit the British forces in the south of Iraq. Britain is investigating pictures that appear to show British troops kicking and urinating on a hooded Iraqi in Basra.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq