Abu Ghraib intel investigator to testify

WASHINGTON, June 1 (UPI) -- The Pentagon promised Tuesday to allow the general investigating intelligence operations in Iraq to testify before the Senate, a senator said.

The Senate Armed Services Committee has held three lengthy hearings receiving testimony from Pentagon and military officials regarding the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

Maj. Gen. George Fay, the Army's deputy chief of staff for intelligence, is next on the list, according to Virginia Republican Sen. John Warner.

Fay has been investigating interrogation operations and his findings will help determine whether the military police guards who have been accused of abuse were acting on orders or were encouraged by military intelligence officials.

Col. Thomas Pappas, commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade, was in charge of the prison where the abuses occurred. He was identified as one of the responsible parties in an investigation by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba. Fay will appear before the committee "as soon as his report is complete," Warner wrote in a letter to the Pentagon's legislative affairs director.

Warner's hearing have often ended in frustration because the answer to many questions -- including who is ultimately to blame for the abuse -- resides in Fay's as-yet-unfinished report.