Tim Kennedy, Arab News

WASHINGTON, 1 May 2004 — The world was horrified yesterday and denounced the abuse of Iraqi detainees by US forces as the Arab world reacted angrily to photographs of mistreatment from inside an Iraqi prison.

The United States and Britain joined the condemnation and vowed to punish those responsible. “We cannot tolerate it,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. “The military is taking strong action against the individuals responsible for these despicable acts.”

British Prime Minister Tony Blair condemned the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees at Abu Gharib prison outside Baghdad while the Arab League in Cairo called on the US-led coalition in Iraq to punish those responsible for what it called “savage acts.”

US President George W. Bush had known about the allegations of misconduct “for a while,” McClellan told reporters here, and expects “appropriate action to be taken against these individuals.

Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, the general in charge of the US-run prison system in Iraq, has been suspended and is under investigation over the alleged abuse, according to a senior US officer.

It has been revealed that six US military police guards were formally charged in March with conspiracy, dereliction of duty, cruelty, maltreatment, assault and indecent acts against as many as 20 prisoners at the jail last November and December. They will learn soon if they face a court martial.

US Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, a coalition spokesman in Baghdad, said Wednesday that “the coalition takes all reports of detainee abuse seriously and all allegations are investigated.” Photographs of the abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Gharib were broadcast on Wednesday by the CBS TV network’s “60 Minutes II” program. The photos included one showing a prisoner standing on a box with a hood over his head and wires attached to his hands. CBS said he was told he would be electrocuted if he fell off.