Pentagon to Release Hundreds of Detainee Pics

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon will soon release "hundreds" of photographs showing alleged abuse by US personnel at prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush administration, a US official said Friday.

"I think it will be in the hundreds," said the Pentagon official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, referring to the number of photos to be released for the first time.

The Defense Department confirmed the Pentagon had agreed to release a "substantial" number of photographs by May 28 in response to a long-running Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the New York-based rights group, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The photographs come from more than 60 criminal investigations from 2001-2006 of military personnel suspected of abusing detainees, the defense official said.

But the Pentagon rejected the portrayal of the photos by the ACLU as showing widespread abuse of detainees.

"What this demonstrates is that we have always been serious about investigating credible allegations of abuse," spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. ....