Fresh prison abuse allegations hit US

Memos between FBI officials detailing abuses, some dated after the Abu Ghraib jail scandal, were released as part of a lawsuit against the government.

Others allege serious abuse of inmates held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base, mostly captives from the Afghan war.

The American Civil Liberties Union brought the case to determine whether the US was mistreating prisoners.

ACLU executive director Anthony Romero said the documents raised grave questions about who was to blame for widespread detainee abuse.

"Top government officials can no longer hide from public scrutiny by pointing the finger at a few low-ranking soldiers," he said.

Last week documents released for the case threw up fresh revelations of abuse in Iraq by US marines, 13 of whom have been convicted and some jailed.

The documents, which were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, are mostly made up of communications between FBI agents concerned at seeing interrogation techniques they are prohibited from using in their own investigations.

One of the memorandums released on Monday provided the account of an agent who observed "serious physical abuses" in Iraq.

It was dated 24 June - two months after the extent of abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison was revealed - and was marked "urgent" and sent to FBI Director Robert Mueller.