The United States will demolish Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad if the Iraqi interim government that is to take over sovereignty on June 30 agrees, the White House said in a statement on Monday.

"Under Saddam Hussein, prisons like Abu Ghraib were symbols of death and torture. That same prison became a symbol of disgraceful conduct by a few American troops who dishonored our country and disregarded our values," the statement said.

A new Iraq will need "a humane, well supervised" prison system and the United States will pay to build "a new maximum security prison," the statement said.

"When that prison is completed, detainees at Abu Ghraib will berelocated. Then, with the approval of the Iraqi government, we will demolish the Abu Ghraib prison, as a fitting symbol of Iraq'snew beginning," the statement said.

Abu Ghraib prison, which is located near Baghdad, has been at the center of the detainee abuse scandal by US soldiers and has triggered worldwide condemnation.