US allies also accused of prison abuse in Iraq

Witness statements obtained by The Associated Press include other new details about the involvement of US military intelligence soldiers in Iraq, including a civilian interpreter's claim that an Army interrogator forced a prisoner to walk naked through Abu Ghraib prison.

Such information is likely to become part of the defence of six soldiers charged with beating and sexually humiliating prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The soldiers facing military charges plus one who has pleaded guilty are all enlisted military police who worked as guards at the sprawling prison outside Baghdad.

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Most of the accused soldiers say military and civilian intelligence operatives encouraged them to beat and humiliate Iraqi prisoners to make them more pliable during interrogations. Top Army brass have said they never condoned any abuse.

The records of interviews by Army Criminal Investigation Division agents obtained by The Associated Press include new allegations that coalition forces had beaten prisoners before turning them over to the Americans.

Sgt. Antonio Monserrate, an Army interrogator, told investigators that two detainees had been "injured by the Polish Army." Monserrate referred to the inmates by their prison identification numbers but did not provide any further details.

Polish forces operate in south-central Iraq. Prisoners also accused Iraqi forces of abusing them but named no other country in the documents obtained by the AP.

Other civilian and military workers at Abu Ghraib mentioned claims by prisoners that they had been beaten by "coalition forces" before arriving at the US-run prison.

"Many detainees complained about physical abuse while in detention caused by C.F. (coalition forces), not US forces," civilian intelligence analyst Luke Olander told investigators.

The statements also give new details about abuses allegedly directly ordered by US military intelligence soldiers.

AFP adds: Poland, one of the top US allies in Iraq, rejected Friday allegations that its troops serving with the US-led occupation forces there had abused prisoners.

"I categorically reject such reports," said army spokesman Colonel Zdzislaw Gnatowski referring to reports that originated in the United States and were carried by Polish radio stations.