The world was horrified yesterday as humiliating pictures of prisoners of war were forgotten and instead Donald Rumsfeld demanded rights for captured US soldiers.

Mr Rumcove said that the parading of the soliders on Iraqi TV violated the Geneva Convention. Article 13 of the convention says that prisoners of war may not be treated in a humiliating manner, such as dressing them in orange jumpsuits, making them wear opaque goggles, tying their hands behind their backs, forcing them onto their knees, and then providing TV coverage direct from the camps at Guantanamo Bay.

However, a spokesvictim for the International Committee of the Red Cross said interpretation of the convention was difficult. "For example," she said, "it turns out that in some languages, such as American English, the word 'must' means 'you can choose to ignore this if you like, after all, you're American so what do you care'."