Abuse suspects 'to blame others'

Sivits faces three charges

The US soldiers on trial for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners will claim they were acting under orders, according to reports in the American press.

As Specialist Jeremy Sivits prepared to go before a court martial on Wednesday, US papers said he was likely to plead guilty to the charges against him.

But others, facing more serious charges, will probably argue they were not responsible, the media said.

On Tuesday they printed more details of the conditions inside Abu Ghraib jail.

The Los Angeles Times quoted Private Lynndie England as saying Iraqi prisoners were made to crawl over broken glass and wear tampons.

Rammed into walls

Pte England, who has been charged over the abuse and is pictured in several of the photos to come out of the jail, said Specialist Charles Graner - who is the father of her unborn child - rammed people into walls then stitched their wounds with a needle and thread.

The LA Times said it had acquired the testimony, which was given earlier this month.

England (left) says Graner (right) did his own stitching

According to its account, Pte England said military police thought of the abuse as sport.

"We thought it looked funny, so pictures were taken," she is quoted as saying. It was "basically us fooling around".

She said the pictures were freely shown around, and therefore "everyone from the commander down" knew what was going on.

It was also claimed that an Iraqi detainee arrived at the prison with a bag over his head. He was taken for interrogation, but within a short time he had collapsed and died.

Only then was the bag removed and it was discovered that he had been badly beaten before arriving, but had been given no medical attention, the LA Times said.

A photograph of him dead, wrapped in clingfilm and ice, was one of the first to emerge from the prison, the paper reported.

'Stripped'

Another paper said the officer in charge of interrogations at Abu Ghraib had admitted that military police were ordered to strip prisoners naked before questioning.

ABU GHRAIB: THE ACCUSED Spc Jeremy Sivits: First to be tried, expected to plead guilty Sgt Javal Davis: Will hear charges on Wednesday Sgt Ivan Fredericks: Will hear charges on Wednesday Spc Charles Graner: Will hear charges on Wednesday Pte Lynndie England: Charges not announced Spc Sabrina Harman: Charges not announced Spc Megan Ambuhl: Charges not announced Abuse scandal: Key figures

The New York Times quoted Col Thomas Pappas as saying there was no monitoring to make sure the guards stuck to the Geneva Convention.

The testimony came from an interview between Col Pappas and Maj Gen Antonio Taguba, who was investigating the abuse, said the paper.

BBC News Online's Kevin Anderson in Washington says claims that intelligence officers were directing the abuse are likely to be crucial to the defendants' case.

"Some have gone so far as to say they were asked to pose for the photos. Lynndie England has said this was not her idea," he said.

"Some are saying, 'We were never trained for this mission'," he added.

Plea bargain

USA Today says legal analysts are not sure their strategy will work, because military law demands that soldiers follow "lawful orders", not "unlawful" ones that would involve a crime.

It quotes Douglas Kmiec, a law professor at Pepperdine University in California, as saying their best bet would be to negotiate a plea bargain.

The body of an Iraqi prisoner packed in ice (AP Photo/Courtesy of The New Yorker)

Our correspondent says that is apparently Spc Sivits' approach.

"Sivits has turned state's witness, and seems to be informing on his fellow soldiers," he said.

Spc Sivits goes on trial on Wednesday and is expected to face a maximum of one year in prison, though he could also be docked most of his pay and thrown out of the military.

Other suspects face a more serious general court martial and could be given much harsher punishments.

Cpl Graner could be sentenced to 24-and-a-half years in prison, and Sgt Javal Davis eight-and-a-half years, according to USA Today.

A modern courtroom has been prepared in the US compound in Baghdad for the courts martial.

There will be no television broadcast of the hearing, but court reporters - including eight from Arab media - will be inside, and many more will be in an adjoining room watching closed-circuit TV.

Besides Spc Sivits' trial on Wednesday, Sgt Davis, Sgt Ivan Frederick and Spc Graner are expected to appear to hear the charges against them, but their trial will not be held until a later date.