May 16 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other officials didn't approve any operations that led to the interrogation methods used on Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison, the Defense Department said.

The denial was made in response to an article on the New Yorker magazine Web site which said Rumsfeld had approved expanding an interrogation program that had been used in Afghanistan to hunt for al-Qaeda.

Rumsfeld faced calls for his resignation from Democrats in the Congress after the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison were exposed in a series of pictures. Rumsfeld and U.S. military investigators have said the mistreatment was the work of a few undisciplined soldiers.

``No responsible official of the Department of Defense approved any program that could conceivably have been intended to result in such abuses as witnessed in the recent photos and videos,'' spokesman Lawrence DiRita said in a statement on the Department of Defense's Web site.

The New Yorker article -- written by Seymour Hersh and to be published in the New Yorker's May 24 edition -- said Rumsfeld had approved a wider program in order to generate more intelligence about the growing insurgency in Iraq. It cited unnamed current and former intelligence officials.

The release of the pictures showing the abuse comes as polls show President George W. Bush's approval rating falling to the lowest level of his presidency. For the first time, a majority of Americans -- 51 percent -- said the war was going poorly, according a Pew Center for the Public Press pool taken May 3-9.

Bush has said he plans to keep Rumsfeld in his cabinet, while the defense secretary has also said he doesn't intend to quit.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tan Hwee Ann in the Singapore newsroom at hatan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 15, 2004 23:39 EDT