A former British archbishop said Wednesday that the photographs showing the torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison were "shameful" and the alleged abuse would even tarnish the image of the West in the Arab world.

"It is deeply shameful and it indicts us all in the West. It is cruel, it is horrible, it is degrading," George Carey, former archbishop of Canterbury, said in an interview with the BBC radio.

"I don't know how we can pull out of this. Apologies are not enough," he said.

Carey also voiced his worry that the photographs would fuel mistrust between the West and the Arab world.

Carey's comments came after a video appeared on the Internet which showed that an American hostage was beheaded by an alleged al-Qaida group.

Those on the video have claimed that the killing of the hostage was to avenge the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US-led coalition forces.

Source: Xinhua