Karzai angry at US Afghan 'abuse'

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned as unacceptable new details of alleged abuse of prisoners by US troops in Afghanistan.
The president's spokesman told the BBC the soldiers involved in the deaths of two inmates and alleged abuse of others should be punished.

The allegations are detailed by the New York Times citing a 2,000-page document leaked from a US army investigation.

They come at a sensitive time as Mr Karzai flies to the US on Saturday.

Correspondents say his four-day trip could also be overshadowed by last week's violent anti-US protests in Afghanistan following allegations in Newsweek magazine - now retracted - that US guards at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had desecrated the Koran.

Mr Karzai, a US ally who came to power following the collapse of the Taleban regime in late 2001, has recently spoken of "US military mistakes".

Officials in Washington said the alleged abuses detailed in the New York Times were being investigated and those responsible would be held to account.

Seven US servicemen have already been charged in relation to the two deaths at Bagram military base, north of Kabul, in 2002.

The new allegations relate to the level of abuse the two prisoners are said to have been subjected to.

'Innocent man'

One of the men who later died - a 22-year-old Afghan known as Dilawar - was said to have been chained to a ceiling by his wrists for four days, and then beaten on his legs more than 100 times during a 24-hour period.

He was being questioned about an attack on a US air base, but the report says most interrogators believed him to be an innocent taxi driver who simply drove past at the time of the attack.

Other reported abuses included:

A prisoner being forced to kiss the boots of interrogators
Another prisoner being forced to pick plastic bottle tops out of a drum mixed with excrement and water
A female interrogator stepping on a man's neck and kicking another in the genitals.
A Pentagon spokesman said the New York Times was trying to make a new story out of old material, adding that the investigation was "very serious and very detailed".

"The standard has always been humane treatment for all detainees. When that standard is not met we will take action," the spokesman said.

The New York Times said it received the report from a person involved in the US investigation who was critical of the interrogation methods used, and of a subsequent inquiry.

The US military initially said there was no indication of abuse in the two men's deaths and that interrogation techniques were methods that were "generally accepted".

After a later inquiry, last October, it emerged that 27 soldiers faced probable criminal charges. Among them are the seven who have since been charged.