US stops plan to return convicted soldier to Iraq

WASHINGTON, Nov 4: US military commanders reversed plans to send a soldier convicted of offenses at the Abu Ghraib prison back to Iraq after news media disclosed the deployment, the US army said.

Specialist Santos Cardona, a dog handler during his assignment at Abu Ghraib, was convicted in June of using his dog to assault a prisoner at the jail outside Baghdad.

He was sent with his military police unit from the United States to Kuwait late last month and had been preparing to go into Iraq, the army said yesterday.

But after a reporter called to ask about the deployment and news of it began to spread, senior commanders called a halt, fearing he and his unit could be targeted by insurgents because of his role at Abu Ghraib.

''The commanders in country have stopped his movement forward into Iraq,'' said Paul Boyce, an army spokesman at the Pentagon.

''We are of course extremely concerned as well in light of the publicity about his situation for his personal situation,'' Boyce told reporters. ''It could potentially endanger other soldiers in his unit,'' he added.

The army had no immediate explanation as to why Cardona's unit commanders had planned to deploy him, given his record in Iraq. The abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib came to light after pictures were released of the incidents in 2004.

Cardona was demoted from sergeant, sentenced to 90 days of hard labor and fined 7,200 dollars by a court martial for his role in the Abu Ghraib scandal, which sparked worldwide revulsion after the 2004 release of pictures of soldiers abusing prisoners.

He was convicted of failing to handle his dog properly and using the unmuzzled Belgian shepherd to threaten an inmate with a force ''likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm.'' The Army said Cardona was no longer a member of a canine unit and his specific duties in Iraq for this tour of duty had not been determined when his deployment was halted.

Cardona serves with the 23rd Military Police Company and deployed from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Kuwait on October 30, the Army statement said.

Reuters