US forces may abandon Abu Ghraib prison

US soldiers cuff blindfolded Iraqi men during Operation Casablanca, in the Dora district of southern Baghdad Monday. About 500 US soldiers in combat vehicles swooped before dawn on a seven-kilometre stretch of farmland in the district in search of suspects involved in deadly attacks on US troops, rounding up 52 people, including 39 women and children, for interrogation. The military later released 50 of the detainees. PHOTO: AFP

As the US mulls over a plan to pull out of the notorious facility, located on the outskirts of the capital, US military figures show that a crackdown against insurgents before and after Jan. 30's landmark parliamentary elections has bloated Iraq's prison system to the breaking point.

"The reason we would like to move our operations from Abu Ghraib is that it has been regularly targeted with attacks from insurgents. The new facility would be within the larger Baghdad International Airport complex, making it less susceptible to attacks," Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a spokesman for Iraq Detention Operations, told The Associated Press.

Abu Ghraib became infamous because of an abuse scandal that unfolded there after the publication last April of photographs showing naked, terrified Iraqi prisoners being mistreated and humiliated by US military guards.

Plans for moving the prison, however, are not yet final, Johnson said. The military, he added, will continue to the notorious facility "for the foreseeable future."