The US Army today replaced Maj Gen George Fay with a more senior general as chief investigator of the role of military intelligence in the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

US senators are pulling in top generals from Iraq to tell what they know about the prisoner abuse scandal over strong criticism from a Republican committee chairman in the House.

Americans are expecting more shocking photographs and searing public debate as the Bush administration works to calm the storm over US soldiers’ abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

Beleaguered US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today extended “my deepest apologies” to Iraqi prisoners abused by military personnel and told Congress he accepts full responsibility for the shocking events.

The torture and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners, captured on camera in a US run Baghdad prison, was controlled and devised by US agencies including the CIA, a lawyer claimed today.

The Pentagon is pursuing five separate investigations into claims that Iraqi prisoners were abused.

The man who led the search for banned weapons in Iraq has said that he found no evidence that Iraq had chemical or biological stockpiles – not even small ones.

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair was last night under severe pressure to make a statement to the House of Commons to answer claims that the Government exaggerated the threat posed by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.

A powerful US Senate committee is to hold hearings this month about why banned weapons have not been found yet in Iraq, it was reported today.

US TV news opted to be safe, not sorry, in covering the election results.

A resolution that would give US President George W Bush broad authority to use military force against Iraq gained momentum with Congress in Washington.

The US Defence Secretary has said no Casualty figures are yet available.