Lynndie England blames lover

Lynndie England, 22, pauses for a long time as she considers how she turned from a chicken factory worker into the symbol of America's abuse of Iraqi detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

A pained smile flashes across the face made famous across the world when she was pictured holding a naked Iraqi prisoner by a leash. Then the US Army reservist blames her downfall on Charles Graner, the abuse ringleader and father of her 11-month-old child, Carter.

"Let's start the list: I guess first and foremost is he tricked me into believing he was a good person, and that he used me," she said in a one-hour interview with Reuters before her incarceration. "I wouldn't be in this mess if I didn't know him. (Second), for abandoning me when I was pregnant, and for abandoning Carter."

Ms England was sentenced on Tuesday to three years in prison for her part in the abuse scandal that sparked worldwide outrage. Mr Graner, now serving a 10-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth prison, testified at England's trial that he asked her to hold the leash he put on a mentally ill Iraqi.

It was also Mr Graner who built a pyramid of naked Iraqi prisoners that was shown in another of the series of photographs of abuse that emerged in 2004 and severely damaged US international prestige.

Months before the photos, company commanders had ordered Ms England to end her romantic relationship.

In a conversation as she pushed a stroller with Carter - the spitting image of his father - England's mother, Terrie, said she had also warned about getting involved as Mr Graner, 37, was so much older, but she said Ms Lynndie was smitten and her advice was ignored.

Ms England, who spent most of her life in a small town in West Virginia with one brother and one sister, granted the interview this week on the condition that it be published only after the conclusion of her trial.

In court, her military attorney Capt. Jonathan Crisp portrayed Ms England as suffering severe difficulties in expressing herself verbally. In the interview she related her ideas fluently with a Kentucky accent but sometimes paused for 10 seconds or more to think.

Ms England struck up a romance with Mr Graner less than a year after she married her first lover, whom she has since divorced. A former civilian prison guard portrayed at trial as a charismatic yet sadistic man, Mr Graner turned on the charm as their unit prepared to deploy to Iraq in early 2003.

Ms England joined the Army reserves in late 1999, partially inspired by war films ranging from older John Wayne pictures to Delta Force movies starring Chuck Norris. By the time the Army reserve unit moved to Abu Ghraib in October 2003, her romance with Mr Graner was in full swing, so the administrative clerk frequently visited him in the most secure section of the prison where she had no official function. Because Mr Graner worked the night shift and she worked during the day, he was often on duty.

"One of the first things I noticed was that a lot of the prisoners were naked," she said adding that a captain who showed her around initially said such sights were normal.

Ms England described Iraqi detainees as screaming while being tortured in showers. Although nothing could be seen due to the sheets covering the bars, the sounds were easily heard.

"I left. I couldn't take it any more. And I still have nightmares about all the screaming," she said. "Not only them screaming, but soldiers screaming at them; hearing the interrogations going on."