National News Bush adresses Arab world to limit damage from prisoner-abuse scandal

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Acknowledging mistakes but stopping short of an apology, U.S. President George W. Bush told the Arab world May 5 that Americans are appalled by the abuse and the 14 deaths of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of U.S. soldiers. He promised that "justice will be delivered."

"The people in the Middle East must understand that this was horrible," Bush said, trying to calm international outrage.

Bush went on two Arabic-language television networks, hoping to limit damage from the prisoner-abuse scandal that centers around graphic images of Iraqi prisoners being humiliated by U.S. military police.

The images include photographs of hooded prisoners piled on top of each other in a human pyramid and simulating sex acts. U.S. soldiers standing near the prisoners hammed it up for the camera.

The photographs were shown on the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya and the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera on April 30 and have caused outrage around the world. They were first broadcast April 28 on CBS' "60 Minutes II" and have led to charges against six U.S. soldiers.

Bush said the mistreatment of prisoners "does not reflect the nature of the American people. That's not the way we do things in America. I didn't like it one bit."

But many in the Middle East see the mistreatment as the latest example of American disregard for Arabs.

収監者虐待問題で米大統領が声明

アメリカのブッシュ大統領は5日、中東のテレビ局に出演し、米兵によるイラク人収監者の虐待問題について釈明を行なった。

Shukan ST: May 14, 2004

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