Abuse row woman 'followed orders'

England says 'persons of higher rank' told her to pose like this (AP Photo/Courtesy of The New Yorker)

One of the US soldiers charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners says she was following orders from her superiors.

Private Lynndie England told a Denver TV station she had been instructed to pose for the notorious photographs with naked Iraqi men at a Baghdad jail.

The army reservist said officers had applauded the pictures and told her that the humiliation of the prisoners was paying off.

Private England, 21, is one of seven American soldiers charged with abuse.

But much of the scandal has centred on the West Virginia woman because she features prominently in several photographs widely condemned by the White House and world leaders.

In one of the pictures she is seen smiling with a cigarette hanging from her lips, pointing a mock gun at the genitals of a naked prisoner. In another she is holding a leash tied round the neck of a naked inmate.

To us, we were doing our job, which meant we were doing what we were told and the outcome was what they wanted Lynndie England Woman soldier in abuse spotlight

"I was instructed by persons in higher rank to stand there, hold this leash... and they took the picture. That's all I know," she told Denver's KCNC station.

Private England said that at the time she thought it was "kind of weird".

But, she said, her superiors praised the photographs and told her and her colleagues that it was a "good tactic".

"To us, we were doing our job, which meant we were doing what we were told and the outcome was what they wanted."

Private England said worse things than those shown in the photographs took place in Abu Ghraib prison. But, following her lawyer's advice, she did not give details.

The interview was conducted at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where the army reservist is in custody.