Bush to do damage control

2004-05-05 10:32

Washington - Hoping to curb fallout over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, President George W Bush will conduct interviews with two Arab networks on Wednesday to tell the Arab world that the abuses are "shameless and unacceptable," a White House official said.

White House spokesperson Scott McClellan said on Tuesday that Bush will conduct two 10-minute interviews with the US-sponsored Al-Hurra television network and the Arab network Al Arabiya.

"This is an opportunity for the president to speak directly to the people in Arab nations and let them know that the images that we all have seen are shameless and unacceptable," McClellan said.

"These images do not represent what America stands for, nor do they represent the high standards of conduct that our military is committed to upholding," he continued. "What occurred was wrong, and it will not be tolerated by America."

He declined to say why Bush will not be interviewed by the Arab network Al-Jazeera.

McClellan reiterated that the actions were carried out by "a few individuals" and said he still could not determine when Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had informed Bush of the allegations.

He said it was sometime after January, as the allegations were making their way up the Pentagon chain of command.

McClellan spoke of the effect the abuses could have on US relations with the Arab world.

"It certainly does not help matters, but at the same time, it does not represent what 99% of the men and women in our military stand for," he said.

Lastly, he declined to say whether the United States would accept an international investigation into the abuses, saying the Pentagon already is studying the matter.

- AP