Hard labour over Abu Ghraib abuse

A US Army dog handler was demoted and sentenced to 90 days of hard labour yesterday for using his dog to assault a prisoner at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

Sergeant Santos Cardona, 32, of Fullerton, California, the 11th US soldier convicted for abusing Abu Ghraib detainees, also will have to forfeit $7,200 in pay, an Army spokeswoman said. He will not be confined during the term of hard labour but will be demoted to specialist. A US military court-martial panel of four officers and three enlisted personnel convicted Cardona on Thursday of two counts that could have led to three and a half years in prison - failing to handle his dog properly and using the unmuzzled Belgian shepherd to threaten a detainee with force.