Washington: US President George W Bush privately admonished Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for keeping him in the dark about the photographs of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, a senior White House official said.

Although Bush is giving no consideration to asking Rumsfeld to resign, the President informed the Defence Secretary of his dissatisfaction during a meeting in the Oval Office yesterday (May 5, 2004), the official, who spoke to selected US media on condition of anonymity, was quoted as saying by the 'Washington Post'.

Bush was particularly bothered at not having been told that the photos of the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison were in circulation, even though Pentagon officials knew that CBS had obtained them, he said.

The President "is not satisfied and not happy" with the way Rumsfeld informed him about the investigation into the abuses, the official said.

Bush also admonished Rumsfeld for resisting repeated calls for prison changes in Iraq and failure to act on recommendations to improve conditions and release those not charged with crimes, he said.

Other US officials said Rumsfeld and the Pentagon resisted appeals in recent months from the State Department and the Coalition Provisional Authority to deal with problems relating to detainees.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who led US armed forces during the first Iraq war, urged action in several White House meetings that included Rumsfeld, a senior State Department official familiar with discussions said.