Jessica Lynch 'raped' in Iraq

Lynch signed a $1m for an account of her ordeal

US soldier Jessica Lynch was raped during captivity in Iraq, according to a new biography quoted by US media.

The book, written with the help of a former New York Times journalist, cites medical reports as stating she was sexually assaulted, ABC News reported.

Private Lynch and six other US soldiers were captured in an Iraqi troop ambush near the city of Nasiriya in March.

Her rescue days later became the source of controversy as critics complained it was stage-managed for propaganda uses.

'Desperation'

In an interview with the ABC News channel to promote her book - which will be broadcast next week - Private Lynch said she remembered the ambush, in which 11 US soldiers were killed.

Private Lynch shortly after her rescue

The soldier, who is now recuperating in her hometown of Palestine, West Virginia, told reporter Diane Sawyer her gun jammed and in desperation she prayed to God to help her.

Later, in an Iraqi hospital, she said local doctors treated her despite a scarcity of drugs and threats from Saddam Hussein's fedayeen henchmen.

She also said she remembers an Iraqi nurse singing to her.

"It was a pretty song and I [could] sleep," she told Ms Sawyer.

Previously it has been reported that she remembered little of her ordeal.

Controversial event

Publisher Alfred A Knopf signed a $1m deal for Private Lynch's account of her ordeal, entitled I Am a Soldier, Too, The Jessica Lynch Story.

Praised as a heroine by many, others denounced her rescue as a staged event used by Pentagon officials as a propaganda exercise.

Rick Bragg, who wrote the book, is also no stranger to controversy. He recently resigned from the New York Times newspaper after allegations his stories relied too heavily on the work of a freelance journalist.

Private Lynch is reportedly planning to marry her boyfriend next June.