The US military has abandoned several interrogation techniques in Iraq, including sleep deprivation and placing prisoners in stressful positions, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The decision was made Thursday by Ricardo Sanchez, the top US commander in Iraq, on the same day of Rumsfeld's surprise visit to Iraq, US defense officials told reporters on condition of anonymity.

These techniques, which included "dietary manipulation," sensory deprivation, placing a prisoner in stressful body positions for longer than 45 minutes, and threatening a detainee with guard dogs, will be banned completely, said the officials.

Interrogation techniques used by US military personnel in Iraq have come under scrutiny following the revelation of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American troops at the Abu Ghraib prison. 

(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2004)