Iraq

Rumsfeld case can progress

A lawsuit's been allowed to progress that accuses former U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of personal responsibility for US forces allegedly torturing two American whistleblowers who worked for an Iraqi contracting firm.

The ruling by the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago comes just days after a similar decision by a federal judge in Washington which gave the green light to an Army veteran - who also alleges he was tortured in Iraq - to sue Mr Rumsfeld for damages.

The Chicago ruling rejected arguments that Mr Rumsfeld should be immune from such lawsuits for work performed as a cabinet secretary.

The US Supreme Court sets a high bar for those suing a top government official, demanding that they show the acts in question are tied directly to a violation of constitutional rights and that the official clearly understood they were violations.

The lawsuit alleges that Mr Rumsfeld personally participated in approving the methods for use by the US military in Iraq, making Mr Rumsfeld responsible, it argues, for what happened.

A spokesman for the US Department of Justice, which is representing Mr Rumsfeld in the case, declined to comment on the ruling.