MANNHEIM, Germany, Aug 24 (AFP) - Lawyers for a US soldier accused of abusing prisoners in Iraq lodged a request Tuesday that a military judge subpoena US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to testify in his court martial.
Sergeant Javal Davis, 26, is charged with cruelty and maltreatment, dereliction of duty, assault and making a false statement over the humiliation of inmates last year at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.
Rumsfeld has been intensely embarrassed by the scandal, in which Iraqi prisoners were photographed stripped naked, piled on top of each other, cowering from dogs or with electrodes attached to parts of their bodies.
But while leaks of military reports suggest that a number of intelligence officers should face charges, it has not so far claimed the jobs of any high-ranking officials.
Davis is third of four US soldiers facing a judge in a pre-trial hearing in Mannheim, southwest Germany laying the ground work for their court martial, for which no date has been set.
Later Tuesday, Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick, a suspected ringleader in the abuses, will also be heard amid reports that he will plead guilty to some of the charges against him.
Frederick, 37, is charged with cruelty and maltreatment, dereliction of duty, assault and indecent acts.
According to US media reports, Frederick is said to be willing to plead guilty to many of the charges and may try to bargain on those remaining.
His lawyer had indicated on Monday that Frederick would talk to reporters once his client's proceedings in Mannheim had come to an end.
Frederick has also asked for the court martial to be held in the United States. The hearings here were first scheduled to take place in Baghdad in June but were moved because of concerns for the safety of witnesses and lawyers.
On Monday, lawyers for Specialist Charles Graner, the first of the suspects to face the judge, tried to stop many of the potentially incriminating photographs being used in the court martial.
They argued that the pictures had been seized by investigators using illegal methods, but the judge, James Pohl, rejected their demands. He also turned down Graner's appeal to have the trial held in the United States.