A U.S. lieutenant general who once served as the top commander of American forces in Iraq has been forced to retire from the Army, allegedly because of the abuse scandal at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, news reports said Thursday.

"That's the key reason, the sole reason, that I was forced to retire," Ricardo Sanchez, who retired Wednesday, told a newspaper based in Texas.

"I was essentially not offered another position in either a three-star or four-star command," said the three-star general.

The Associated Press said Sanchez, 55, had been a candidate to become the next commander of U.S. Southern Command, but was passed over after the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, which occurred from late 2004 through early 2004, exploded into an international controversy in 2004.

Sanchez has not been accused of any misconduct but has been criticized by some for not doing more to avoid mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners.

The general, who served in the military for 33 years, retired in a formal ceremony at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.

Source: Xinhua