US court urged to halt release of images

THE US government asked an appeals court to halt the release of disturbing images of prisoner abuse, saying the photos could incite violence in Pakistan as well as in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The court papers filed in New York cite two partially secret statements from two top US generals, David Petraeus and Ray Odierno.

Such arguments failed to sway the court in the past. In the new filings, General Petraeus, who oversees US military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, said the images could also lead to more violence in Pakistan because it dealt with Taliban attacks.

While past arguments about the photos referred generally to the Middle East, General Petraeus’s statement focuses on Pakistan’s recent struggles against terrorism.

The administration had planned to release the photos until President Barack Obama reversed the decision earlier this month, saying their release would endanger US troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Disseminating the photos posed “a clear and grave risk of inciting violence and riots against American and coalition forces, as well as civilian personnel, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan”, according to the motion filed with the 2nd US Circuit Court.

Meanwhile, the defence department denied a British newspaper report that some of the images showed US personnel sexually assaulting detainees.

The Daily Telegraph reported that a former US general said graphic images of rape and torture were among the pictures.

The photos were ordered to be released as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The Bush administration had also fought their release and lost.

ACLU lawyer Amrit Singh said the new filing by the Obama administration “has no new arguments” and would be opposed.

She also criticised the government for editing parts of the generals’ arguments about the safety threats posed by the photos.

The court ruled last September that general concerns about public safety were not specific enoughto merit blocking the release of the photos.

The motion also notes that the government plans to appeal against the ruling to the Supreme Court.

Congress is also considering stepping in to block the photos’ release.

General Odierno, who commands the troops in Iraq, said in his statement to the court that the 2004 release of photos of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison “likely contributed to a spike in violence in Iraq” that year.

He also said he had been told by senior political officials in Iraq that release of the photos would upset the democratic process before national elections.