Washington D.C.,  USA – President George W. Bush went to the Pentagon recently in a public show of solidarity with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who has been widely condemned over the allegations of abuse of Iraqi prisoners. The President then went behind closed doors to view new photographs and video clips of the abuse. Advisers to the President and defense staff at the Pentagon are deciding whether to release the images to the media.

    Soon afterwards, Gen. Antonio Taguba is to testify before Congress on his findings on mistreatment of inmates at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison. His testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to throw new light on the extent to which senior officers ordered the abuse.

    A BBC correspondent added that the prison scandal appears to be having a severe effect on the American public's view of the entire Iraq war. The latest nationwide opinion poll suggests, for the first time, that a majority now believe it was not worth fighting.

    Meanwhile, a Red Cross report suggests that up to nine out of 10 coalition detainees in Iraq were arrested by mistake. The 24-page report released to the coalition in February 2004, also found evidence of widespread and routine abuse of prisoners. There were 8000 prisoners held in 14 separate jails. Three of the main jails are said to hold inmates for extended periods for posing a threat to the coalition in Iraq.

    Mr. Rumsfeld's spokesman said the "disturbing" images showed the humiliation of prisoners as well as "inappropriate behavior of a sexual nature". "The President's reaction was one of deep disgust and disbelief that anyone who wears our uniform would engage in such shameful and appalling acts," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said later.

    However, the man who published the first snapshots of prisoners being abused in the New Yorker magazine, Seymour Hersh, said that more images are on the way. He said that images he had seen appeared to have been taken by a different unit than that involved in the photos initially published. "So the notion that was promulgated initially last week or the week before by the American authorities... that this is just a bunch of six or seven bad seeds (people), that's pretty much shot by these photos," he said. The reporter said it was clear there was, or had been until recently, a "very systematic problem" in the prison systems in Iraq.