Washington: Accepting the responsibility for the alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, two US commanders have said more soldiers other than the seven already facing court-martial could be prosecuted.

The two generals in charge of the US-led coalition in Iraq John Abizaid and Ricardo Sanchez were testifying before a Congressional panel yesterday (May 19, 2004).

As chief of the central command running the war, Abizaid said he takes responsibility for the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison. Overcrowding in the cells of that jail "contributed to systematic failures", and may have created conditions for abuse to take place.

Sanchez, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, told the Committee that he accepted responsibility for the atrocities committed against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib and assured the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing that "it won't happen again".

"As a senior commander in Iraq, I accept responsibility for what happened at Abu Ghraib, and I accept as a solemn obligation the responsibility to ensure that it does not Happen again.

"We have already initiated courts-martial in seven cases and there may be very well be more prosecutions," Sanchez said adding, "We may find that the evidence produced In these investigations... leads to more courts-martial."

The hearing came just after a military judge in Baghdad sentenced Jeremy Sivits to a maximum one-year jail term for his role in the humiliation of inmates at Abu Ghraib Prison.