Abu Ghraib

Opening statements are expected today in the Fort Meade court-martial of an Army dog handler charged with mistreating detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in late 2003 and early 2004. Sgt. Santos A. Cardona, 32, could be sentenced to 16 1/2 years in a military prison if convicted. He faces charges of assault, conspiracy, cruelty and maltreatment, dereliction of duty and making a possible false statement. Another dog handler, Sgt. Michael J. Smith, was convicted in March of several counts and sentenced to six months in prison.

WASHINGTON -- The Army filed 12 charges yesterday against the former head of the interrogation center at Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, making him the highest-ranking officer to face criminal prosecution in the abuse scandal. Only one of the charges accuses Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan with direct involvement in the abusing of Iraqi prisoners, alleging that he subjected detainees "to forced nudity and intimidation by military working dogs." The other charges largely mirror findings of an initial 2003 Army investigation into the prison by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, who found that Jordan misled investigators and was lax in his training and supervision of soldiers under his command.

WASHINGTON --The Army plans to charge Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan, former head of the interrogation center at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, with dereliction of duty, lying to investigators and conduct unbecoming an officer, the officer's lawyer said yesterday. Jordan would be the highest-ranking officer at Abu Ghraib to face criminal charges in the abuses at the prison. Ten low-ranking soldiers who served at the prison outside Baghdad have been convicted. The highest-ranking officer convicted in any of the prisoner abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan is Capt.

A military jury convicted an Army dog handler yesterday of six counts of abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq - including a charge that he used his dog as part of a game to make prisoners soil themselves - but cleared the soldier of more serious charges. Sgt. Michael J. Smith could be sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison rather than the 24 years he faced if convicted on all counts. Smith, 24, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is the 10th soldier to be convicted in the detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib.

The former head of military intelligence at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, Army Col. Thomas M. Pappas, acknowledged in court yesterday that he failed to set clear rules for interrogation of detainees and, on one occasion, authorized the use of dogs in questioning a suspect without gaining approval from the commanding general in Iraq. Pappas said the use of dogs began at Abu Ghraib after a September 2003 visit from Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the former commander of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

NOTR TO READERS A photograph published yesterday with an article about the court-martial of a guard at Abu Ghraib prison showed a book cover that contained an obscenity. The obscenity went unnoticed during editing and should not have been published. Publication of the photo violates The Sun's guidelines. The Sun apologizes for the oversight. The court-martial of Abu Ghraib prison guard Sgt. Michael J. Smith opened at Fort Meade yesterday with the military's assertion that Smith was part of a "rogue" band of guards who "tormented, terrorized and terrified" detainees at the Iraqi prison.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ -- The U.S. military confirmed plans yesterday to close the Abu Ghraib prison within the next few months, part of a wider effort to hand over authority and facilities to the Iraqi government. Abu Ghraib - notorious as the site where U.S. soldiers abused Iraqi detainees and for its torture chambers during Saddam Hussein's rule - holds more than 4,500 inmates. Military officials said the prison, built by a British construction team in the 1960s, is crowded and needs replacing.

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon's top military officer spoke out yesterday in defense of a key figure in the Abu Ghraib scandal who has invoked his right against self-incrimination in the cases of two U.S. soldiers accused of using dogs to harass detainees at the prison in Iraq. Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, who helped set up operations at Abu Ghraib, refused this week to answer questions from defense lawyers, according to his attorney, and invoked his military Article 31 right, similar to the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

WASHINGTON -- In a break with the White House, the Republican-controlled Senate overwhelmingly approved a measure yesterday that would set standards for the military's treatment of detainees, a response to the Abu Ghraib scandal and other allegations that U.S. soldiers had abused prisoners. Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican and a victim of torture while a prisoner during the Vietnam War, won approval of the measure that would make interrogation techniques outlined in the Army Field Manual the standard for handling detainees in Defense Department custody and prohibit "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of U.S.-held prisoners.