Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has condemned the alleged abuse of 170 detainees held by Iraqi security forces in Baghdad.

Chilling TV pictures of Iraqi prisoners being tortured and abused by US soldiers will damage Britain and signal the “end of the story” for America in Iraq, it was claimed today.

The Iraq coalition will overcome the wave of terrorist-style attacks destabilising the post-Saddam Hussein state to help it emerge as a free nation, President George Bush vowed today.

Saddam Hussein's capture has apparently been confirmed by Paul Bremer, the US official in charge of running post-war Iraq.