Howard's Abu Ghraib account contradicted
http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/31/1085855499846.html

A senior Australian army officer visited Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison last year to investigate allegations of prisoner maltreatment, a Senate inquiry has heard, contradicting statements by the Prime Minister and defence chiefs.

Major George O'Kane, who visited the notorious prison five times, was yesterday barred from giving evidence to the Senate estimates hearing by Defence Minister Robert Hill.

Defence officials confirmed that Major O'Kane received two Red Cross reports in October and November detailing mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners and later provided them to Australian officials.

The reasons for the December 4 visit were reported back to military commanders in Canberra, Air Commodore Harvey confirmed.

Senator Hill told Parliament on May 11 that the first time any defence personnel knew of "matters of abuse" was when CNN aired a report in mid-January.

Defence chief Peter Cosgrove and department secretary Ric Smith also released on Friday a joint statement that said "no defence personnel were aware of the allegations of abuse or serious mistreatment before the public report of the US investigation in January".