World

Army To Court-Martial Abu Ghraib Officer

January 26, 2007 / 5:14 PM EST / AP

The only officer criminally charged in the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal will be court-martialed on eight charges including cruelty and maltreatment of detainees, an Army spokesman said Friday.

Lt. Col. Steven Lee Jordan, 50, is tentatively scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday at Fort McNair in Washington, Col. Jim Yonts told The Associated Press.

Yonts said Maj. Gen. Guy C. Swann, commander of the Military District of Washington, ordered Jordan to be tried for eight alleged offenses.

Beside the single count of cruelty and maltreatment, they are:

Disobeying a superior commissioned officer

Willful dereliction of duty by failing to supervise and ensure compliance with interrogation policies

Failure to obey a lawful general order to obtain permission before using military working dogs during interrogation

Failure to obey another other lawful order

False swearing

Two counts of making false official statements

The reservist from northern Virginia was charged in April with 12 offenses. Swann dismissed four of them after reviewing the record of Jordan's Article 32 investigation, the military equivalent of a civilian preliminary hearing, held in October.

Jordan's military lawyers didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.