The Army Military District of Washington said Jordan faced 12 criminal counts relating to seven different charges. Prosecutors said he subjected detainees to forced nudity and intimidation by military working dogs and later lied about it to investigators. He could face about 42 years in prison if convicted on all charges, an army spokesman said.

Ten low-ranking soldiers have been convicted in military courts in connection with the physical abuse and sexual humiliation of detainees at Abu Ghraib. Two officers senior to Jordan have been disciplined, but neither faced criminal charges.

The charges against Jordan include cruelty and maltreatment of detainees, dereliction of duty, wrongful interference with an investigation, making false official statements and wilfully disobeying a superior officer. Jordan is a reservist assigned to the Army Intelligence and Security Command, the army said.

Images of the abuse, including naked detainees stacked in a pyramid and others cowering before snarling dogs, first became public on 28 April 2004, exactly two years before the charges were brought against Jordan.

Jordan was in charge of the military's Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Centre at Abu Ghraib in 2003 at the height of the abuse.

"It's gratifying that the military is beginning to focus on the role of more senior officers in the torture scandal.

But this is but a step. The problems are just so clearly systemic that they need to be looked at more comprehensively, " said Hina Shamsi, a lawyer with Human Rights First.

The scandal triggered international condemnation of the US. Abu Ghraib was a notorious torture centre under Saddam Hussein.

Prosecutors said Jordan disobeyed orders not to have contact with others involved in the scandal, failed to ensure subordinates acted lawfully, and used methods on prisoners without higher approval. They also accused him of filing fraudulent receipts for car repairs.

Shamsi called for close scrutiny of the roles of US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other Pentagon leaders in crafting policies that may have led to torture and abuse.