The top U.S. general has rejected an accusation that the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has become "the gulag of our time".

In an interview with the television program Fox News Sunday, General Richard Myers said Amnesty International's comparison to Soviet prison camps is "absolutely irresponsible."

The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman called Guantanamo "essentially a model facility," where detainees receive copies of the Koran and what he called "proper, Muslim-approved food." He said the military is carrying out President Bush's pledge to treat prisoners humanely.

Guantanamo detainees have alleged they were physically abused by interrogators and saw the Koran being desecrated. General Myers acknowledged some five cases of the Koran being mishandled.

In its annual report on human rights released Wednesday, Amnesty International accused the United States of ignoring the rule of law as it pursues the war on terror.