The US would have preferred that the photos and videos had not been shown, not because it is hiding anything, but rather because the pictures could 'fan the flames' in the Muslim world and lead to further violence, said John Bellinger, the legal adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Australia's SBS television channel Wednesday aired pictures of what it said were Iraqi prisoners being tortured by US soldiers inside Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.
The pictures, which include a man with his throat cut, one with massive head injuries and one of a man with a badly burned arm, were taken at the same time as the photographs released in 2004 that stoked worldwide outrage, especially in the Muslim world.
Bellinger said the photos are 'disgusting' and evidence of the 'reprehensible conduct' of some members of the US military.
But he also stressed that the people responsible for the abuse had been held to account and punished.
Mike Carey, an executive producer with the government-funded SBS channel, said it was important to publish the fresh photographs so people understood what had happened inside Abu Ghraib.
But Bellinger said nothing new was added to the debate, and publicizing the pictures could only lead to additional violence at a time that many in the Muslim world are already incensed over European newspapers printing cartoons that depicted and lampooned the Islamic prophet Mohammed.
