U.S. Frowns On Saddam Skivvy Pix

Tabloid photographs Friday of an imprisoned Saddam Hussein naked except for his white underwear prompted a U.S. military investigation and condemnation from the Red Cross. President Bush said he did not think the images would incite further anti-American sentiment in Iraq.

Some Iraqis called the photos the latest in a series of insults to Arabs and Muslims. Others, however, said the humiliation is just what the 68-year-old former dictator deserves.

Regardless of any effect the images may have on Iraq's insurgency, they were certain to offend Arab sensibilities and heap more scorn on an American image already tarnished by the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison and allegations by Newsweek, later retracted, about desecration of the Quran at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"It is clear that the pictures were taken inside the prison, which means that American soldiers have leaked the pictures," said Saddam's chief lawyer, Ziad al-Khasawneh. He said the photos "add to acts that are practiced against the Iraqi people, and of course we remember what happened in Abu Ghraib and we remember what happened in Guantanamo."

The photographs were published in Britain's The Sun and the New York Post, both controlled by Rupert Murdoch. The tabloids said the photos were provided by a U.S. military official it did not identify who hoped it would deal a "body blow" to the insurgency.

The Sun quotes military guards as saying that while Saddam threw a few temper tantrums just after his arrest, he's now one of their best-behaved prisoners, CBS News Correspondent Steve Holt reports. The paper also claims it got the pictures from sources who hoped to deal a body blow to the Iraqi resistance.

Sun managing editor Graham Dudman told The Associated Press that the newspaper paid "a small sum" for the photos. He would not elaborate except to say it was more than 500 British pounds, which is about $900. The paper said it would publish more photos Saturday.

Saddam's attorney said he would sue the newspaper "and everyone who helped in showing these pictures."

An apparently embarrassed U.S. military in Baghdad said the publication of the photos violated U.S. military guidelines "and possibly Geneva Convention guidelines for the humane treatment of detained individuals."

"Publishing the type of pictures of Saddam Hussein that appeared in both U.S. and British newspapers may be politically embarrassing but it also is a clear violation of the Third Geneva Convention which deals with Treatment of Prisoners," said CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk, who is an international law professor.

"The Geneva Convention has several provisions that were created to govern prisoner treatment against this type of mockery, regardless of the character of the prisoner," said Falk. "This type of photograph violates international law and plays into the hands of critics of U.S. policy."

CBS News Correspondent Richard Roth reports that similar questions about compliance with the Geneva code were raised when the U.S. handed out video of Hussein after his capture nearly two years ago. American officials at the time said the pictures were published not to humiliate him, but to prove his fall from power to doubters.

A spokesman, Staff Sgt. Don Dees, said the military would question the troops responsible for Saddam. Officials were trying to determine whether the images were taken from a surveillance camera or hand-held camera.

President Bush was asked Friday whether the photos could inspire violence just as a Newsweek magazine report about service members putting a holy Quran in a toilet at a prison camp, reports CBS' Aleen Sirgany.

"You know, I don't think a photo inspires murderers," Mr. Bush said. "I think they're inspired by an ideology that is so barbaric and backwards."

But later the White House acknowledged the photographs could have a serious impact, much like the discovery of images of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.

White House press spokesman Trent Duffy said the photos could be perceived by members of the insurgency in much the same way as revelations of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib.

"This could have serious impact, as we talked about, with the revelations of prisoner abuse," he said. "What the United States did in both of those situations, however, is recognize that, take immediate steps to investigate and get to the bottom of why it happened and how it happened and take steps to make sure that ... people are held to account."

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said U.S. military officials in Iraq believe the photos are "dated" — perhaps more than one year old, although no specific date has been established.

The International Committee for the Red Cross, which monitors conditions of prisoners of war and detainees, said the photographs violated Saddam's right to privacy.

"Taking and using photographs of him is clearly forbidden," ICRC Middle East spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas said. U.S. forces are obliged to "preserve the privacy of the detainee."

Aside from U.S. soldiers, the only others with access to Saddam are his legal team, prosecuting judge Raed Johyee and the ICRC.

In Baghdad coffee shops and elsewhere across this deeply conservative country, Iraqis watched as some Arab satellite networks — including Al-Arabiya — showed the front page of The Sun, with its picture of Saddam standing in his underwear. Other published photos show him clothed and seated on a chair doing some washing, sleeping and walking in what is described as his prison yard.

"This is an insult to show the former president in such a condition. Saddam is from the past now, so what is the reason for this? It is bad work from the media. Do they want to degrade the Iraqi people? Or they want to provoke their feelings," said Baghdad businessman Abu Barick.

Others were not so kind.

"Saddam Hussein and his regime were bloody and practiced mass killing against the people, therefore, whatever happens to Saddam, whether he is photographed naked or washing his clothes, it means nothing to me. That's the least he deserves," said Hawre Saliee, a 38-year-old Kurd.

The photos did not provoke much of an outcry across the Middle East on Friday, when businesses are shut and people take the day off and try to avoid the news.

But those who did notice expressed strong opinions when questioned.

In Dubai, Sabine Hajj, a 25-year-old Lebanese, said the pictures were "shameful and controversial. It's an insult to human beings, regardless of who he is or what he did. This is a breach of privacy."

Rawad Nasr, a 30-year-old Jordanian salesman, said the pictures were "shocking."

"Regardless of what he did, they shouldn't have been published. This is an insult to humanity, and whoever published them must be prosecuted," Nasr said.

In Bahrain, Ali Yousef, 21, said he "cracked up" when he saw the pictures.

"I don't care about Saddam, he was a ruthless dictator and he deserves worse," Yousef said.

Muhammed al-Sabah, Kuwait's foreign minister, said he had no sympathy for the man who invaded his country in 1991.

"What happened to him on this earth is really of minor consequences. I certainly believe in my heart of hearts that he's going to go to hell," al-Sabah told CNN. "He is a villain."

Since his capture in December 2003, Saddam has been held in a complex near Baghdad airport named Camp Cropper, which holds 110 high-profile detainees. Saddam could go on trial by the end of the year for charges that include killing rival politicians during his 30-year rule, gassing Kurds, invading Kuwait and suppressing Kurdish and Shiite uprisings in 1991.

It is not the first time there has been an outcry over images of Saddam.

Pictures and video images of Saddam being examined by a medic after his arrest were widely criticized. A Vatican cardinal said American forces treated the captive Iraqi leader "like a cow."

Although Arab television networks broadcast the pictures of naked or semi-clothed prisoners being abused by American forces at Abu Ghraib, at least one — Al-Jazeera — chose not to air the Saddam photos.

Al-Jazeera spokesman Jihad Ballout said the network didn't show them for ethical and professional reasons. "The photo is demeaning to Iraqis," he said, adding: "from a professional side, it is not news."

"There is a big difference, because the pictures were the news in Abu Ghraib," he said.

Dudman, The Sun's managing editor, defended the decision to print the pictures.

"They are a fantastic, iconic set of news pictures that I defy any newspaper, magazine, or television station who were presented with them not to have published," he said. "He's not been mistreated. He's washing his trousers. This is the modern-day Adolf Hitler. Please don't ask us to feel sorry for him."