US soldier to admit abusing Iraqi prisoners

A US army reservist charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners is expexted to plead guilty at a Baghdad court martial today to four counts arising from the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal.

Eight other counts will be dropped in a plea deal, his lawyer said.

Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick, 38, will admit to assault, maltreating a detainee, committing an indecent act and dereliction of duty, lawyer Gary Myers said.

He declined to say what sentence Frederick would receive as part of the plea bargain. The combined maximum penalty for all 12 counts is 18 years in prison, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, reduction of rank to private and a dishonourable discharge, the US military said.

Frederick is the highest-ranking member of the 372nd Military Police Company charged in the scandal. Six others have also been charged and one has already been jailed for a year.

Frederick is alleged to have watched as a group of prisoners were made to masturbate while other soldiers photographed them.

He also is accused of jumping on a pile of detainees, stamping on detainees’ hands and bare feet, and punching one in the chest so hard he needed medical attention.

In addition, Frederick allegedly helped place wires in a detainees’ hands and told him he would be electrocuted if he fell off a box.