But the US soldier, who has two weeks left in the military and plans to work in the private sector as a contractor, said he had no regrets.

"Ultimately, it was the right thing to do," he said.

Darby said he stumbled onto pictures of prisoners being mistreated in a computer disc given to him by Corporal Charles Graner, who was handed the harshest sentence -- 10 years in prison -- for his role in the scandal.

Darby said he had asked Graner to give him pictures of places they had traveled to in Iraq, but that the discs also contained pictures showing prisoners being abused by US soldiers, including infamous photos of naked Iraqis stacked in a human pyramid.

Darby said he did not believe Graner knew he had given him the incriminating pictures.

After mulling over what steps he should take, Darby said he decided to give the images to military investigators in January 2004.

"I had made the right decision that something needed to be done after I first found them," he told CNN.

The scandal emerged publicly months later after US media obtained the pictures.

Eleven soldiers have been convicted in connection with the case, but senior military and civilians officials have not been charged in the scandal.

"They all got what they deserved," Darby said.

Flores told the legislature that she would work hard to speed up the passage of bills currently awaiting parliamentary approval.

The president of the unicameral Assembly serves a one-year termand can be reappointed twice. After serving a one-year presidency from January 2005 to January 2006, Maduro was ratified in the post for 2006.