Iraqis furious after new prisoner abuse footage

BAGHDAD - New images of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison prompted Iraq's president to condemn his close ally the United States, demanding harsh punishment for "savage crimes" as Iraqis seethed over more humiliation.

In unusually strong language, Jalal Talabani was critical of Washington as the new images were digested by Iraqis and other Arabs already enraged by insulting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad which were published in European newspapers.

"We have condemned these savage crimes. We reject that a civilised country allow its soldiers to commit these ugly and terrible crimes," Talabani told reporters.

"We demand very harsh punishments against the perpetrators."

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman played down the reaction over the images, saying they were not new and that the perpetrators had already been brought to justice.

"There aren't new allegations, they're old allegations. These aren't new photos, they're old photos. These are photos that were part of the evidence in the prosecutions that took place," Whitman said.

"They were the impetus for us to take a look at our detention operations in a very broad and deep fashion. And these abuses that have occurred have been thoroughly investigated."

The images of humiliated prisoners infuriated Iraqis and some predicted they would play into the hands of Saddam Hussein, whose chaotic trial has embarrassed the US-backed government.

Australia's Special Broadcasting Service's "Dateline" programme said the images were recorded at the same time as the now-infamous pictures of US soldiers abusing Abu Ghraib detainees which sparked international outrage in 2004.

Some of the pictures suggest further abuse such as killing, torture and sexual humiliation, "Dateline" said.

Iraq's Human Rights Minister Zuhair al-Chalabi called on US-led troops to release Iraqi detainees on Thursday after the new footage emerged of abuse at Abu Ghraib, which along with other detention centres holds 14,000 prisoners.

Worried

"We are very worried about the Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib. The multinational forces and the British forces should hand them over to the (Iraqi) government," Chalabi told Reuters in an interview.

"The Iraqi government should move immediately to have the prisons and the prisoners delivered to the ministry of justice."

Few Iraqis believe their government has the power to force the United States to free prisoners but the tough comments are an indication of the erosion of US credibility in the country.

Iraqi passions had already been running high since a London newspaper released a video earlier this week that appears to show British soldiers beating Iraqi teenagers in 2004.

"These pictures are an insult to us and our government. Why are the Americans and the British still controlling our prisons?" asked Mohammad Jassim, 17, a Shi'ite student.

"Don't we have our own army now? This will only give Saddam the terrorist more sympathisers."

In Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the latest images of abuse at Abu Ghraib showed clear violations of international humanitarian law.

"We are shocked and dismayed at the mistreatment and abuse displayed in these images," spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas said.

The images, which included an Iraqi prisoner banging his head against a metal door in desperation, came as a shock in the Arab world, even in staunchly pro-American Kuwait, where US-led troops crushed Saddam's troops in 1991.

"This is awful because I always look up to the British and Americans as the best in the world," said Kuwaiti firefighter Khalil al-Amir.

"They are supposed to be more civilised. But when I see something like this it makes me think twice."

Some Iraqis said more comparisons would now be drawn favouring life under Saddam to the new US-backed Iraq.

"Now some people will claim that life was better under Saddam. Both performed crimes against humanity but at least we had security back then," said Abu Anmar, 35, a Sunni petrol station owner, referring to the daily carnage in Iraq.

- REUTERS