The lawyer for Lynndie England, the US soldier pictured in humiliating photos of Iraqi detainees, asked a judge today if he could call as a witness in her hearing the top US commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez.

The US military has denied a report that the top American general in Iraq was present during some interrogations at the Abu Ghraib prison and witnessed some of the abuse of Iraqi inmates.

The commander of the military police company assigned to the notorious Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad is prepared to testify that the top US general in Iraq was present during some interrogations at the prison and witnessed some of the abuse, it is reported today.