Pentagon to release prisoner abuse probe photos

By Andrew Gray

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Friday it will release hundreds of photographs from investigations into prisoner abuse but insisted they did not reveal a policy of mistreatment.

The Obama administration's commitment to release the pictures by May 28 could fan the flames of a political firestorm over the treatment of terrorism suspects and other detainees during George W. Bush's presidency.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates voiced concern this week that publicizing details of U.S. interrogation practices and photographs of prisoner treatment could trigger a backlash against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The American Civil Liberties Union has spent years suing the government for the release of the pictures, which came from military investigations. The group said they showed prisoner abuse went far beyond well-known cases in Iraq and elsewhere.

"These photographs provide visual proof that prisoner abuse by U.S. personnel was not aberrational but widespread," said Amrit Singh, an ACLU lawyer.

No details have been released of what the pictures show.

The Pentagon said its policy had always been to treat detainees humanely and the investigations that yielded the photographs showed the U.S. military did not tolerate abuse.

"What this demonstrates is that we have always been serious about investigating credible allegations of abuse," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.