Female soldier charged by US military

The female American army private shown in photographs smiling and pointing at naked Iraqi prisoners, has been charged by the American military with assaulting the detainees and conspiring to mistreat them.

Lynndie England, 21, who faces four allegations, is the seventh US soldier charged with crimes in connection with the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

The latest development emerged after Donald Rumsfeld, the American defence secretary, apologised for his troops' "fundamentally un-American" abuse of Iraqi prisoners and warned that more horrific pictures of mistreatment were still to come.

On apparent abuse by American soldiers, he said: "These events occurred on my watch. As Secretary of Defence, I am accountable for them and I take full responsibility."

More allegations of British troops abusing Iraqi prisoners and taking "trophy photos" have emerged as a fourth soldier apparently told his story to the Daily Mirror.

The newspaper is carrying a front page picture allegedly provided by a soldier from the troubled Queen's Lancashire Regiment showing a soldier photographing a bound captive with bloodied teeth in the back of an armoured personnel carrier.

The Mirror says it's report contains "damning proof" that British soldiers took "trophy photos" of Iraqi prisoners being abused.

Soldier "D" told the paper: "There are no rules out there. I saw the man dragged into the vehicle beaten up, kicked and punched. It lasted about a minute.I took the picture as I opened the doors of the vehicle and could see dirt on his shirt and blood on his teeth."

He claimed soldiers took photos and video footage to look tough and prove to friends what had happened.