LONDON, April 30: Photos purporting to show US soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners drew international condemnation on Friday, with Arabs saying the US campaign to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis was now a lost cause.

The CBS News programme, "60 Minutes II", on Wednesday aired photos taken at the Abu Ghraib prison last year showing US troops abusing Iraqis. One Iraqi man had a slur written on his skin in English.

Another was directed by Americans to stand on a box with his head covered, and wires attached to his hands, and was informed that if he fell off the box, he would be electrocuted.

"This is the straw that broke the camel's back for America," said Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the Arab newspaper, Al Quds al Arabi. "The liberators are worse than the dictators."

"They have not just lost the hearts and minds of Iraqis but all the Third World and the Arab countries," he said. US President George Bush said he "shared a deep disgust" at the treatment of Iraqi prisoners after the pictures were published and broadcast around the world.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was "deeply disturbed" by the pictures and that he hoped it was an isolated incident, his spokesman Fred Eckhard said. Britain condemned the abuse.

"Nobody underestimates how wrong this is," Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman told reporters. "Actions of this kind are in no way condoned by the coalition." The US military is weighing disciplinary action against the Army general who was in charge of the prison.

Brig Gen Janis Karpinski could be relieved of her command, blocked from promotion or receive a letter of reprimand after a non-criminal administrative investigation relating to events at the prison, said Col Jill Morgenthaler, a military spokeswoman in Baghdad.

Gen Karpinski, who left Iraq earlier this year as part of a scheduled rotation, "might be determined to be blameless", Col Morgenthaler added. "We found it very abhorrent that American soldiers indulged in those acts of humiliation. And second of all, they photographed these acts. It's very shameful," Col Morgenthaler said.

ARAB WORLD: The publicity could not have been worse in the Arab world, with the humiliation in the pictures especially shocking. "That really, really is the worst atrocity," Mr Atwan said. "It affects the honour and pride of Muslim people. It is better to kill them than abuse them."

Arab satellite televisions began their news bulletins with the pictures, which they said showed the savagery of US troops against Iraqi prisoners. Jamal Khashoggi, media adviser to Saudi Arabia's ambassador in London, said US officials responsible for policy in Iraq should be held responsible for such acts, which he said reflected "deep contempt" for Arabs.

"It is a big failure. It is going to make people say 'what was wrong with Saddam?'" he said. -Reuters