US officials have given their reaction to the release by an Australian television network of photographs and video clips it said were previously unpublished images of the alleged abuse of Iraqis held in US military custody at Abu Ghraib prison.
US State Department legal advisor John Bellinger told reporters on Wednesday that the decision had been made not to release further photographs from the prison in Iraq.
"The US government felt that it was better that the photographs not be released, not because that there was anything to hide,бн but simply, that one, that we felt that it was an invasion of the detainees themselves to have these photographs come out and in addition it would simply fan the flames around the world and cause potentially further violence. "
The images broadcast on Wednesday were taken at Abu Ghraib in late 2003 at about the same time as previously published photographs of Iraqi prisoner abuse.
Many of them were more graphic than the images published earlier, showing apparently dead bodies, injuries and sexual acts.
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Producer: Xie Qiao