A photo found posted on a commercial photo-sharing Web site operated by a woman who said her husband brought the photos from Iraq after his tour of duty appears to show prisoners in the back of a truck with a foot atop one of the detainees. (China Daily/file)

     WASHINGTON, March 29 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior US commander in Iraq had approved several harsh techniques for prisoner interrogation, including the use of muzzled dogs, a memo made public on Tuesday showed.

    The American Civil Liberties Union released the Sept. 14, 2003 memo from Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, then commander of US forces in Iraq, in connections with a lawsuit accusing the government of being complicit in torture.

    The memo showed that Sanchez approved several interrogation techniques, which were beyond the scope of the normal US Army practice, and stipulated that permission to their use had to be requested in advance and approved by him in each case.

    It said the use of muzzled dogs "exploits Arab fear of dogs while maintaining security during interrogations." It also permitted "stress positions," forcing a prisoner to keep painful posture for a long time.

    These techniques were rescinded a month later following protest from military lawyers.

    The Pentagon had previously approved, and then canceled, some of these harsh techniques in interrogation of terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay. Enditem