US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Friday told a Senate panel that there were many more photos and videotapes related to the Iraq abuse scandal and, if released, could "make matters worse."

"There are a lot more photographs and videos that exist," Rumsfeld said at a hearing by the Senate Armed Services Committee."If these are released to the public, obviously it's going to makematters worse."

The firestorm started last week when photographs showing smirking American soldiers, male and female, sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners in Iraq. Those pictures cause widespread rage in the Arab world.

Adding new fuel to the boiling scandal, The Washington Post on Thursday published new graphic images providing more damaging evidence. One picture on the front page showed a US woman soldier holding a leash tied around the neck of an Iraqi man, who is naked,grimacing and lying on the floor.

But no videos of the abuse have so far emerged.

Source: Xinhua