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Abu Ghraib prison to become museum

Iraq has said it plans to rebuild the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, complete with a museum portraying the crimes of Saddam Hussein.

The jail, which is situated 15 miles west of Baghdad, has been closed since September 2006 after the US military handed it over to the Iraqi authorities in the wake of a prisoner abuse scandal.

The Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal erupted in early 2004 when photos appeared in the media of naked and hooded Iraqi prisoners being beaten and made to commit humiliating acts such as simulating sex.

Photographs also showed US soldiers posing proudly with battered corpses and nude injured prisoners, some of which were attached to dog leads.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said: "A part of it will be kept as a museum for showing the crimes committed by the previous regime."

However, it is thought that no references to the facility's recent controversy will be made.

Read entire article at Telegraph