US soldier found guilty of Iraqi prisoner abuse

Private Lynndie England, the grinning US soldier captured on film with naked and hooded Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, has been convicted of abuse by a military court. She faces up to 10 years in prison.

England, 22, who became the face of the scandal after pictures were published of her and her comrades laughing as they piled prisoners on top of one another or led them by a dog lead, was found guilty at the hearing at Ford Hood, Texas, of one count of conspiracy, four counts of maltreating detainees and one count of committing an indecent act.

But her conviction has failed to clarify an ongoing question that has been at the centre of the abuse scandal: were the low-ranking soldiers ordered to abuse detainees as part of an intelligence-gathering effort or were they simply a "few bad apples" seeking twisted amusement?

England's military lawyer, Captain Jonathan Crisp, told the hearing that the woman from rural West Virginia was only trying to please her former lover Corporal Charles Graner, the convicted ringleader of the abuse and the father of her child. "She was a follower, she was an individual who was smitten with Graner. She just did whatever he wanted her to do," said Mr Crisp.

But prosecutors used graphic photographs of England to support their argument that she was a key figure in the abuse conspiracy, and they pointed to a statement she gave to army investigators last year in which she said the abuse of prisoners had been done for the amusement of troops. "The accused knew what she was doing," said Captain Chris Graveline. "She was laughing and joking. ... She is enjoying, she is participating, all for her own sick humour."

The jury of five army officers took about two hours to reach its decision, which included a not-guilty verdict on a second count of conspiracy. The same jury will now decide sentence.

Her trial is the last for a group of nine army reservists from the same Maryland-based unit charged with abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib, a scandal that further damaged the reputation of the US in the Middle East. Two other soldiers were convicted in trials and the remaining six made plea deals. Several of those soldiers testified at England's trial.

Despite the prosecution of the reservists, only one senior officer has been reprimanded over the allegations. General Janis Karpinski, who was in operational command of Abu Ghraib, was reduced in rank to colonel.She has since fuelled the controversy by saying that the use of human pyramids and dog leashes was introduced by General Geoffrey Miller, the former commander of Guantanamo Bay prison, in an effort to obtain more information from prisoners.