Rumsfeld heckled at Committee meeting

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was heckled at a Senate Committee today as he apologised to Iraqis tortured by US military in a Baghdad prison.

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

“These events occurred on my watch. As Secretary of Defence I am accountable for them. I take full responsibility,” Rumsfeld told the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington.

His statement at the opening of the hearing was interrupted by shouting demonstrators who demanded his resignation.

A group of hecklers chanted "fire Rumsfeld" inside the chamber before being escorted out by security.

Rumsfeld and US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers are under pressure for not keeping Congress informed about abuses of Iraqi prisoners, his officials said.

US President George Bush said he told Rumsfeld on Wednesday that he “should have known about the pictures and the report” done by the Pentagon before they turned up in news reports.