FORT BRAGG, North Carolina. Sept: 1, 2004: A US Army judge ruled on Tuesday that a special military hearing for an American soldier accused of abusing Iraqi inmates at Abu Ghraib prison will not seek testimony from ex-prisoners as it would be too difficult to arrange.

Judge Colonel Denise Arn made the decision at a hearing for Private Lynndie England, 21, known around the world from a photograph showing her holding a leash attached to the neck of a naked inmate at Abu Ghraib, after prosecutors said it could take days to track ex-inmates.

"I’m not convinced they are reasonably available," Arn said after prosecutors cited "logistical hurdles" to tracking down former detainees.

Numerous Iraqi inmates, often hooded, were photographed in naked pyramids or cowering before nuzzled army dogs, and in one instance soldiers were pictured posing beside an inmate who died in a shower block inside the jail, in photos leaked to the media earlier this year.

Arn had asked prosecutors to see if any inmates could be traced following a request from England’s lawyers.

"It is possible it can be done, but it can’t be done quick. No one travels anywhere in Iraq without a convoy" involving military escorts, Captain John Benson told Arn.

"There are logistical hurdles. We would have to send soldiers to collect the detainees," Benson said.

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