The top US general in Iraq, who has been criticised for his handling of the Abu Ghraib scandal, is to be replaced.

Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez, US ground commander in Iraq, will leave the post at the end of June. A higher-ranking general will take his place.

General Sanchez was implicated in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal by a senior military lawyer who claimed that the general had witnessed the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners.

The claim was made by Captain Robert Shuck who represents Staff Sergeant Ivan Fredericks, one of seven US soldiers on trial for the abuse of prisoners.

Captain Shuck said that Sergeant Frederick's company commander was prepared to testify that General Sanchez had been at Abu Ghraib "during some of these interrogations and/or allegations of prisoner abuse".

The claim has been vehemently denied by General Sanchez's staff who described it as "false".

The general was also implicated in a leaked document that he signed in October instructing military intelligence to take over control of prisoners' conditions at Abu Ghraib with the aim of manipulating their "emotions and weaknesses".

General Sanchez and two other top military officials were summoned to testify last week before a Senate committee on the Abu Ghraib scandal. During his testimony, he took responsibility for the abuse because it happened while he was the commander in Iraq.

A military investigation into the abuse did not directly criticise General Sanchez, but found fault with an order he issued last November giving authority at the facility to a military intelligence unit.

Some of the Army military police charged in the case have said that military intelligence units personnel recommended they use harsher measures to "soften up" inmates.

President Bush backed General Sanchez tonight and said that he had done “a fabulous job”.

“He’s been there for a long time. His service has been exemplary,” Mr Bush said. He said any suggestion that the general's departure is linked to the scandal was “just wrong”.

Times Recommends

• Henning Mankell: ‘If Wallander was alive, I wouldn’t be a friend of his’
• Secret society's skull and crossbones for sale
• Nigerian leader vanishes after medical treatment