BAGHDAD, Oct 20: One of the US soldiers at the heart of the prisoner abuse scandal at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison pleaded guilty to five charges of maltreatment and indecency at a court martial in Baghdad on Wednesday.

Responding to charges ranging from conspiracy to abuse of prisoners, dereliction of duty, assault and indecency, Staff Sergeant Ivan "Chip" Frederick, however, admitted guilt to only elements of some of the charges.

On the first of a two-day hearing on a military base at Baghdad's international airport, Frederick, 38, offered a rare insight into what took place behind the bars of the notorious detention centre.

Pictures of grinning US soldiers posing by a heap of naked Iraqi men revealed earlier in the year sparked worldwide outrage that has continued to dog the US administration.-AFP