The Bush Administration angrily rejected a claim by a United Nations official today that more Iraqis are being tortured now than when Saddam Hussein was in power.

Manfred Nowak, the UN's chief anti-torture campaigner, has never been to Iraq but said he based his claim on interviews with people in Amman, Jordan and other sources.

"What most people tell you is that the situation as far as torture is concerned now in Iraq is totally out of hand," Mr Nowak said in Geneva.

"The situation is so bad many people say it is worse than it has been in the times of Saddam Hussein."

Nowak, an Austrian law professor, was speaking following a UN report which showed that the number of Iraqi citizens killed in July and August was 6,599, a record-high number.

More than 5,100 were murdered in Baghdad and many victims had been tortured. Violent civilian deaths in July reached an unprecedented 3,590, an average of more than 100 a day.

A State Department official in Washington, asked about Professor Nowak's comments, told The Times: "How anyone could compare state-sanctioned torture under a dictator to the situation today is beyond us.

"We definitely don't agree with his remarks. We don't agree with his assessment of the situation at all."

According to the UN report, torture is rampant in Iraqi detention centres and in sectarian killings across the country.

Bodies found in the Baghdad morgue "often bear signs of severe torture including acid-induced injuries and burns caused by chemical substances, missing skin, broken bones - back, hands and legs - missing eyes, missing teeth and wound caused by power drill or nails," the report said.

"You have terrorist groups, you have the military, you have police, you have these militias. There are so many people who are actually abducted, seriously tortured and finally killed," Mr Nowak said.

"It’s not just torture by the government. There are much more brutal methods of torture you’ll find by private militias," he added.

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