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IRAQ PRISON ABUSE AND AND SCANDAL: KEY PLAYERS

Specialist Charles Graner: A former Pennsylvania prison guard, 35-year-old Specialist Charles Graner worked in the Abu Ghraib prison and is facing charges of maltreatment and indecent acts. He has said he was following instructions given to him by military intelligence officials.

The other two accused soldiers are Specialist Sabrina Harman and Specialist Megan Ambuhl, also with the 372nd Military Police.

THE WHISTLEBLOWER

Major General Antonio Taguba: Major General Taguba authored the initial damning report into the abuses in Abu Ghraib prison. Known for his calm, straight-talking style, General Taguba's secret 53-page report, leaked to the press, spoke of "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses." General Taguba, whose military career has spanned more than 30 years, said he had found however no evidence of a specific policy directing the abuse. But he blamed failures of leadership for allowing the situation to develop and told a Senate committee that soldiers faced a lack of training, supervision and discipline. The report's findings led to Brigadier General Janis Karpinski being suspended.

US Senator John Warner: Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Warner is the Virginian Republican who heads the body responsible for overseeing the US Defence department. He called the mistreatment of prisoners appalling and said it represented a totally unacceptable breach of military regulations and conduct. Senator Warner has backed Bush in supporting Mr Rumsfeld but after grilling the defence secretary he warned repeated viewing of these images could undermine American military operations in Iraq and beyond.

US Senator Carl Levin: Michigan Senator Carl Levin is ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He has warned that the abuse would fuel anti-American hatred and said those responsible for authorising such actions must be held accountable.

THE JOURNALISTS

The CBS 60 Minutes Team: The first pictures and details of what was happening in Abu Ghraib prison were broadcast on the 60 Minutes II programme of US television network CBS at the end of April. The network delayed broadcasting the revelations for two weeks after an appeal from the Defence Department and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers. In the programme 60 Minutes II spoke to Sergeant Ivan Frederick, now facing a court martial.

Seymour Hersh: Mr Hersh is a veteran investigative journalist who first published the leaked Taguba report along with snapshots of prisoners being abused in the New Yorker magazine. He had said that the pictures make it clear that there was, or had been until recently, a "very systematic problem" in the prison systems in Iraq. Mr Hersh is famed for his 1969 expose of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, winning a Pulitzer prize for his work. He is also the author of several high-profile political biographies including books on Kissinger and John F Kennedy.