WORLD CAPITALS, February 16, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday, February 16, branded the latest horrific images of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US jailers at Abu Ghraib prison as a clear violation of international humanitarian law, while Iraqis reacted with disgust to torture images as symbolizing the occupation of their country.

"The type of treatment in these images -- video or photos -- very clearly violates the rules of international humanitarian law which are designed to protect people detained in the context of armed conflict," IRCR spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas told Reuters.

"We are shocked and dismayed at the mistreatment and abuse displayed in these images," she added.

An Australian television station broadcast on Wednesday, February 15, previously unpublished images of abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the notorious US-run jail.

The latest grainy, still photographs and video images show prisoners, some bleeding or hooded, bound to beds and doors, sometimes with a smiling American guard beside them.

They include two naked men handcuffed together, a pile of five naked detainees photographed from the rear, and a dog straining at a leash close to the face of a crouching man wearing a bright orange jumpsuit.

The Australian broadcaster said the images were recorded at the same time as the now-infamous pictures of US soldiers abusing Abu Ghraib detainees which sparked international outrage in 2004.

"These images are painful and shocking for every Iraqi," Al-Dulaimi said.

The United Nations on Wednesday described the Abu Ghraib pictures as "deeply disturbing," reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We would hope they are investigated as soon as possible," UN chief Kofi Annan's spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

In Washington, a Pentagon official said the photographs are authentic but had been investigated previously by the US military.

"The (pictures) can be matched to a CID photo log and are authentic," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

The CID is the army criminal investigation unit that probed the abuse scandal.

Three of the photographs were from a batch of 70 images whose release had been ordered by a US court in response to a lawsuit by a group of human rights organizations, the official said.

The Justice Department has appealed the court ruling on the grounds that their release could inflame violence in the Muslim world.

The images have surfaced at a time when tensions in the Muslim world are already high over cartoons published in a Danish newspaper and reprinted in other European newspapers satirizing Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

Iraqis reacted with disgust to the new images, with many saying they symbolize the occupation of their country.

"I felt disgusted when I saw those pictures and I felt at the same time how weak our government is that it can't help its own people," said Sadun Mohammed.

"The government pretends there's sovereignty but they are powerless in the face of what the foreign forces do," he added.

Outside the Justice Ministry in central Baghdad, civil servant Jenan Abed Mohammed expressed her anger over the images.

"This is a massive insult for all Iraqis and Muslims," she said.

"The occupier doesn't understand the true meaning of freedom, which is what they claim they came to Iraq for."

For traffic policeman Raad Saadi the images as well as the video broadcast over the weekend of British forces beating up Iraqis, are all indications of the arrogance of the foreign forces.

"If a US or British soldier drives down this street now, he can stop even the convoy of a minister and the minister himself can't say a thing," he said.

"They don't respect the system or order and they don't respect the citizen in the street."

Sunni politician Adnan Al-Dulaimi, of the National Concord Front which competed in elections for the first time in December, also expressed shock.

"These images are painful and shocking for every Iraqi," he said.

"All must respect human rights, even those of criminals in prison."

Fadel Al-Sharaa, a representative of firebrand Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr's political movement, expected the photographs to inflame popular sentiment.

"It seems that the occupier still doesn't understand the nature of the Iraqi people," he said.