WASHINGTON, May 15: The US military, amid a scandal over abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib jail, has banned several interrogation methods in Iraq, including sleep and sensory deprivation and body "stress positions", defence officials said on Friday.

The officials said these techniques previously required high-level approval from the US military leadership in Iraq, but now will be prohibited completely. The officials said the decision was made on Thursday by the top US commander in Iraq, Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez.

The officials refused to say the methods were barred because they were onerous or violated the Geneva Convention governing the treatment of prisoners of war.-Reuters