Pakistan urges US 'atonement' over Iraq prisoner abuse
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-05-11 20:06

Pakistan reiterated its revulsion at the treatment of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers, as shown in a series of published photographs, and urged the United States and the world community to "atone."

"This treatment was sickening and appalling," foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan told a weekly press briefing on Monday after new photographs emerged.

"This has been recognised by the people and leaders all over the world including the US administration senior leaders...and elsewhere in the world."

"What you need here is atonement, I mean the American people have to atone for it, the international community has to atone for this shameful act," Khan said.

Pakistan, a key US ally which never supported the war in Iraq without a United Nations mandate, issued a statement last week describing the treatment depicted in the photographs as "sadistic and shameful."

Photos of naked prisoners being threatened by dogs and sexually humiliated have provoked outrage among Pakistan's Muslim-dominated population, many of whom see the US presence in Iraq as an illegal occupation and a violation of fellow Muslims' sovereignty.

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