Senior US officer 'allowed' jail torture

A top-level report accuses senior American commanders of allowing the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

The leaked army report says high-ranking military intelligence officers and CIA agents were "experimenting with techniques" that led to horrific photographs of prisoners being sexually and physically abused.

Army investigators say the torture of inmates at the Baghdad jail was allowed by a colonel who headed the military intelligence unit - the Pentagon had earlier claimed that only low-ranking army guards were responsible.

News of the report comes on the same day that military police opened fire on rioting prisoners at Abu Ghraib, killing two and wounding five others. A US military spokesman said a group of inmates were attacking another prisoner with stones and tent poles in a detention camp in the prison grounds.

American soldiers opened fire after the rioters ignored warnings and rubber bullets.

The army probe is expected to name at least two dozen people, including private civilian contractors involved in questioning prisoners.

The report will be presented to the US Congress next week.