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.