US soldiers to be 'punished'
2004-05-02 18:08
Washington - The Pentagon will prosecute troops and military officers responsible for abusing Iraqi prisoners, General Richard Myers, the chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told US television on Sunday.
"This an appalling act," Myers told the Fox News Sunday
television program.
"The folks that perpetrated it will have to face justice by our
system, and they will," he said.
He made his remarks as the US-led coalition faced continued
outrage amid mounting allegations of widespread abuse at its jails in Iraq.
Human rights groups demanded an independent inquiry after
allegations that US military intelligence ordered the abuse to
extract information from Iraqis detained since the March 2003
invasion of Iraq.
Myers told Fox News that military interrogators have a variety
of means at their disposal to extract information from captives,
but said "one thing you don't do is, you don't torture".
- AFP