Obama drops plan to release abuse photos

US President, Barack Obama, has dropped a plan by the Department of Defense to release by May 28th hundreds of photos, showing alleged abuse of prisoners in detention facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama said it would not bring "additional benefit" to the country.

Barack Obama said he had no problem with releasing the photos at first. But after top military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan expressed their concerns that publicizing the pictures could put their troops in danger, Obama reversed the decision.

Barack Obama, US president, "I am concerned about how the release of these photos would be impact on the safety of our troops. I have made it very clear to all who are within the chain of command, however, of the United States Armed Forces, that the abuse of detainees in our custody is prohibited and will not be tolerated."

The photos emerged in 2004 from the US-run Abu Ghraib prison. The images of US soldiers posing with detainees caused a huge anti-American backlash around the globe, particularly in the Muslim world.

President Obama says the photos have already served their purpose in investigations. The Pentagon conducted 200 investigations into alleged abuse connected with the photos in question.

The effort to keep the photos from becoming public represents a sharp reversal from Obama's repeated pledges for open government. He had promised to be forthcoming with information that courts have ruled should be publicly available.

The White House denies insisting that Obama is not harming transparency. It points out details about investigations into the abuse depicted are available on the Pentagon's website.