Lynndie England, the most recognizable US soldier involved in mistreating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, was sentenced on Tuesday by a military jury to three years in jail.

England, 22, was also given a dishonorable discharge.

The trial was the last of nine Army reservists charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib in 2003.

She was found guilty on Monday by the five-member panel in Fort Hood, Texas, of six counts, which included one count of conspiracy, four counts of maltreating detainees and one count of committing an indecent act.

The counts carried a maximum nine years behind bars. The military prosecution had asked the jury for a sentence of four to six years, while the defense had asked for no time in jail.

The prisoner abuse scandal was made public in late April last year, and brought worldwide condemnation on the United States. England became the public face of the scandal after photographs showing her holding a leash attached to a naked prisoner were published.

She also appeared in several other photos, in one of which she posed with a pyramid of naked detainees and in another she pointed at the genitals of a prisoner.

England apologized on Tuesday for posing for the photos, and said she did so to please her soldier boyfriend, one of the nine Army reservists.

Army reserve brigadier general Janis Karpinski, the prison's former commander, and military intelligence officer colonel Thomas Pappas were punished in non-judicial proceedings, but no officers have been tried for the scandal so far.

(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2005)