Highest ranking U.S. soldier convicted in Abu Ghraib scandal paroled.

(AP) - HAGERSTOWN, Maryland-The highest-ranking U.S. soldier convicted of abusing detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison was released on parole Monday after serving less than half of an 8-year sentence in a case that sparked worldwide condemnation of the U.S. military's presence in Iraq.

Former U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Ivan Frederick, 40, was released from a military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after serving three years, said his lawyer, Gary Myers.

Frederick was accused of abuse, including placing wires in a detainee's hands and telling him he would be electrocuted if he fell off a box. That photo, along with others showing Iraqi detainees in humiliating positions next to grinning U.S. troops, cast a pall on the U.S. military's presence in Iraq after the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.

The scandal was among the first in a series of allegations of abuse and murder of Iraqis that have resulted charges against over two dozen U.S. troops. The cases have served as fodder for criticism in the Arab and Muslim world, and elsewhere, of the U.S.'s continued presence in the war-torn country.

A total of 11 U.S. soldiers were convicted in the Abu Ghraib case. The sole officer to face court marital in the case was given a reprimand for disobeying a general's order not to discuss the abuse investigation and one officer U.S.

Myers said Frederick's prosecution was a blatant attempt to shift blame for the abuse from former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other high-ranking officials.