A US Army private who pleaded guilty to abusing a detainee in Afghanistan says his sergeant ordered a detainee to roll on the ground and kiss his boots as another soldier stood by and watched.

US President George Bush today threw more resources at the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast as criticism mounted that a slow response by the government had contributed to the misery of thousands of people in the region.

US President George Bush will today embark on a round of speeches aiming to shore up fading support for the Iraq war.

CONGRESSIONAL critics of US President George W Bush's stay-the-course commitment to the war in Iraq argued yesterday that the administration lacks sufficient troops on the ground to mount a successful counterinsurgency.

US President George Bush is using the first anniversary of Iraq’s sovereignty to try to ease Americans’ doubts about the mission and outline a winning strategy for a violent conflict that has cost the lives of more than 1,740 US troops and has no end in sight.

Lynndie England will plead guilty to abusing Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib prison, her lawyer said today, about a year after photos of her sexually humiliating inmates made her the face of a scandal that damaged the credibility of the United States military.

A US military jury in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, has sentenced a soldier to death for a grenade and rifle attack on his own comrades during the opening days of the Iraq invasion.

A military jury in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, sentenced a soldier to death on Thursday for a grenade and rifle attack on his own comrades during the opening days of the Iraq invasion, a barrage that killed two officers and that prosecutors said was driven by religious extremism.

Lawyers for Private Lynndie England attempted today to throw out statements she made when first questioned about Iraqi prisoner abuse, including that guards were just “joking around, having some fun”.

PRIVATE Lynndie England, the American soldier seen in some of the most notorious photos with naked Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, has had a baby boy.

Private Lynndie England, the American soldier seen in some of the most notorious photos with naked Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, is a new mother.

The US army is to court-martial eight months pregnant Private Lynndie England, one of the most recognisable figures in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.

A US military judge has recommended a court martial for Private Lynndie England over the Iraq prison abuse scandal, but said the young army reservist was “easily led” and had been “heavily influenced” by an ex-boyfriend.

A soldier already convicted in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal testified today that Private Lynndie England was a willing participant in creating the “human pyramid” of naked Iraqi detainees shown in infamous photographs.

A military judge hearing pre-trial evidence in the alleged abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison pressed the US government today to speed up its investigations, warning that delays could derail the case against at least one of the accused soldiers.

Four US soldiers charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison face pre-trial hearings before an American military judge in Mannheim, Germany today and tomorrow.

Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison identified Lynndie England as one of the soldiers who abused them, an army investigator testified today.

LYNNDIE ENGLAND was often sloppy at her paperwork job at Abu Ghraib prison because of illicit, late-night visits to the part of the facility where detainees were abused, her supervisor said yesterday.

EARLIER this year, a petite, mop-topped soldier became a central figure in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal that shocked the world when she turned up in numerous photographs, smiling and giving the thumbs-up in the presence of naked, hooded Iraqi detainees.

Lawyers for Army Reservist Lynndie England claim she is being used as a scapegoat in the Iraqi prison abuse scandal, and they hope a military hearing this week will allow them to question senior officials they believe are responsible.

DEFENCE lawyers for soldiers on trial in the Iraqi prisoner abuse case won permission yesterday to question two top American generals, and the military judge ordered that the Abu Ghraib prison not be torn down because it is a crime scene.

A pre-trial hearing over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal began in Baghdad today.

A US army court will hold pre-trial hearings in Baghdad next week for three soldiers charged with abusing Iraqi inmates in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

US Vice President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld are on a list of potential witnesses in the case of Private Lynndie England, the US army reservist facing a court-martial for alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners, her lawyers say.

AN army reservist who was photographed smiling and pointing at naked, bound Iraqi prisoners had been ordered to pose because her presence would be especially humiliating to the men, her lawyers said.

THOSE charged are: Staff Sergeant Ivan L ‘Chip’ Frederick II, 37, from Virginia.

The US is moving a secret commando unit from Iraq to Afghanistan to step up the hunt for Osama bin Laden, it was reported in Washington today.

President George W Bush pledges to dismantle Osama bin Laden's terrorist network piece by piece.

America geared up for war yesterday with Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, warning the country's servicemen that they would be called on to vanquish "powerful and terrible enemies" in the months ahead.