Retired U.S. general denies seen photos in Iraq flap

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A retired U.S. general has denied reports that he had seen the pictures of Iraqi prisoners being abused that President Barack Obama is seeking to keep secret, Salon reported on Friday.

The British newspaper Daily Telegraph reported that retired Major General Antonio Taguba told them he had seen the images Obama said will not be released. The newspaper quoted him as saying: "These pictures show torture, abuse, rape and every indecency."

Taguba told the Salon.com website that while the Telegraph quoted him accurately, he was referring to pictures from Abu Ghraib that showed horrific abuse and not the 44 pictures the American Civil Liberties Union was seeking to have released.

"The photographs in that lawsuit, I have not seen," he told Salon.

The Obama administration at first agreed to release the 44 pictures but reversed course, arguing that they could put U.S. troops abroad at greater risk.

The administration also accused the Daily Telegraph of misquoting Taguba, with the White House going so far as to cast doubt on the accuracy of the British press in general.

Taguba, who retired in January 2007, led an investigation in 2004 into abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison which included allegations of rape and sexual abuse.

Photographs of abuse at the prison outside Baghdad were published in 2004 and caused deep resentment in the Muslim world, damaging the image of the United States as it fought against insurgents in Iraq.

Obama has set a goal of improving America's image in the Muslim world and plans to deliver a speech next week in Cairo aimed at reaching out to Muslims.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz, editing by Philip Barbara)