JANIS KARPINSKI, the US Army Reserve General whose military police unit was in charge during the Abu Ghraib scandal, has been demoted, making her the only general to be disciplined over the affair.

The Army announced that the demotion was based on a broad charge of dereliction of duty, essentially clearing her of direct responsibility for the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.

Her rank was reduced to colonel and she was relieved of her command, moves approved by President Bush that effectively ended her military career. She was demoted for dereliction of duty and shoplifting a $22 (£10) bottle of perfume at an Air Force base in Florida in 2002.

While Colonel Karpinski, who has claimed she has been scapegoated for her superiors’ failures, is the only general to be disciplined over Abu Ghraib, the Army inspector general’s report did not link her deficiencies to the abuse. It also cleared four other senior officers, including Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez, then the senior US commander in Iraq.

The Army’s report effectively lays all blame for the scandal on the seven low-ranking enlisted soldiers from Colonel Karpinski’s unit who are already charged over the abuse. “The investigation determined that no action or lack of action on her part contributed specifically to the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib,” the Army said.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is set to hold hearings to assess whether senior military officials, and the Pentagon’s civilian leadership, were adequately held accountable.

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