WASHINGTON — He had spent five years as a prisoner of war in communist North Vietnam, so when Sen. John McCain spoke, his words carried the extra weight of personal experience.

What riled him was the Bush administration's decision that Taliban fighters captured on the battlefields of Afghanistan in 2001 were not eligible for international protections for prisoners of war.

"You know the North Vietnamese made the same determination about American prisoners?" McCain, R-Ariz., asked.

"Yes, sir," replied Vice Adm. Albert Church.

Church appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday to present his findings from a lengthy investigation into how the administration had developed and used its prisoner interrogation policies.

McCain gave voice to a concern shared by many, including some in the military: Regardless of who is blamed for the documented cases of prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and in Afghanistan, the origins of the problem may lie in the Geneva Conventions issue.

Church reported that he could not find a single, overarching explanation for the abuses. He also found no evidence that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld directed or condoned a policy of abuse.

"Even in the absence of a precise definition of 'humane' treatment, it is clear that none of the pictured abuses at Abu Ghraib bear any resemblance to approved policies at any level," Church concluded.

Troops who shot Italians assigned to protect official

BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. troops who mistakenly killed an Italian intelligence agent last week on the road to Baghdad's airport were part of extra security provided by the U.S. Army to protect U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte, a U.S. official said yesterday.

Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari was killed last Friday when U.S. troops opened fire on a car carrying him and Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who had just been freed from insurgents.

"The mobile patrol was there to enhance security because Ambassador Negroponte was expected through," U.S. Embassy spokesman Robert Callahan said, confirming reports in Italian media. The newspaper La Repubblica reported Wednesday that the checkpoint had been "set up to protect the passage of Ambassador Negroponte."

It was not known if Negroponte, who was nominated last month by President Bush to be the new director of national intelligence, had already passed through the checkpoint.

The U.S. Army has launched an investigation into the shooting, which has become a point of contention between the United States and Italy. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has questioned the U.S. Army's version of events, including a claim that the car was speeding and ignored signals to stop

Ambassador to Afghanistan tapped for risky Iraq post

WASHINGTON — President Bush plans to name Zalmay Khalilzad, his ambassador in Afghanistan and longtime national security adviser, as the new U.S. ambassador in Iraq, a senior administration official said yesterday.

Khalilzad will take over one of the most closely watched and dangerous U.S. diplomatic posts from John Negroponte, whom Bush chose last month as the nation's first director of national intelligence. Bush tapped Khalilzad in September 2003 to serve as ambassador in Afghanistan. Before that, he was one of Bush's top national security advisers, a former aide to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and oil company consultant.

Public-health experts seek more accurate civilian toll

LONDON — Public-health experts criticized the United States and Britain today for failing to record the number of Iraqi civilians killed since the U.S.-led invasion and called for an independent inquiry.

"We believe that the joint U.S./UK failure to make any effort to monitor Iraqi casualties is ... wholly irresponsible," they said in a statement published online by the British Medical Journal.

The two dozen experts from Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, Spain and Italy said the exact count of the Iraqis killed since the invasion in March 2003 would help provide a better understanding of the causes of deaths.

Calling for an immediate independent inquiry into Iraqi war-related casualties, they said relying on data from the Iraqi Ministry of Health was unacceptable because Iraqi sources were likely to underestimate casualties for several reasons. The Health Ministry figures do not include deaths during the first 12 months after the invasion.

Iraqi Health Ministry numbers, based on figures from hospital mortuaries, show 3,274 civilians were killed from July 1, 2004, to Jan. 1, 2005.

Iraq Body Count, which is run by academics and peace activists and based on reports from at least two media sources, estimate between 16,231 and 18,509 Iraqis have died since the conflict started.