US General witnessed Iraq prison abuse

In a videotaped deposition from Iraq played on Tuesday, Saddam "Sam" Saleh Aboud said he endured beatings at the prison.

During one session, his hood was removed and he said he saw Brig General Janis Karpinski.

Aboud identified Karpinski from a photograph in a news magazine that his lawyer Michael Hourigan showed him.

"He was adamant that there was an occasion when he was being tortured, in Tier 1A, when she was present and watching and laughing as he was being tortured," Hourigan said. He said Aboud did not know Karpinski's identity until he told him.

"He knew she was a supervisor because she had a star on her hat and she was in an American uniform," Hourigan said. "He said the other soldiers would defer to her."

Neither Karpinski nor her lawyer could be reached immediately for comment.

A Pentagon spokesman, Lt Col Joseph Yoswa, said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the pending litigation.

Karpinski, who was suspended by the Pentagon in May, previously has denied knowing about any abuses at the prison until photographs surfaced at the end of April.