US MILITARY commanders in Iraq have repeatedly requested the deployment of a new non-lethal weapon to avoid civilian casualties - only to have their requests turned down by a Pentagon fearful that it might be seen as a torture device.

Essentially a ray-gun that neither kills nor maims, it uses energy beams instead of bullets and lets soldiers break up angry crowds without firing a shot.

Mounted on a Humvee or a flatbed truck, the Active Denial System gives people hit by the invisible beam the sense that their skin is on fire. They move out of the way quickly and without injury.

In August 2003, Richard Natonski, a US marine corps brigadier-general who had just returned from Iraq, filed an “urgent” request with officials in Washington for the energy-beam device.

The device would minimise what Natonski described as the “CNN Effect”: the instant relay of images depicting US troops as aggressors. A year later, Natonski, by then promoted to major-general, again asked for the system, saying a compact and mobile version was “urgently needed,” particularly in urban settings.

Natonski, now a three-star general, is the Marine Corps’ deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations.

In October 2004, the commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force “enthusiastically” endorsed his request. Lieutenant General James Amos said it was “critical” for US marines in Iraq to get the system.

Senior officers in Iraq have continued to make the case. One December 2006 request noted that as US forces are reduced, the weapon “will provide excellent means for economy of force.” Another urgent request in that month - from Major-General Robert Neller of the marines - sought eight of the devices in a version produced by the company Raytheon, called “Silent Guardians”.

Neller, then deputy commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq, called the lack of such a non-lethal weapon a “chronic deficiency” that would harm efforts to resolve showdowns with as little firepower as possible.

Although Colonel Kirk Hymes, head of the US defence department’s joint non-lethal weapons directorate, said the Raytheon product “is not ready yet”, company representatives say it is.

The main reason the tool has been missing in action is public perception. With memories of the 2004 Abu Ghraib prison scandal still fresh, the Pentagon is reluctant to give troops a space-age device that could be seen as a torture machine.

“We want to just make sure all the conditions are right, so when it is able to be deployed the system performs as predicted - that there isn’t any negative fall-out,” said Col Hymes.

Reviews by US military lawyers have concluded it is a lawful weapon under current rules governing the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a 15 November document prepared by marine corps officials in western Iraq.

Private organisations remain concerned, however, because documentation that supports the testing and legal reviews is classified. There is no way to verify independently the Pentagon’s claims, said Stephen Goose of Human Rights Watch in Washington.

“We think that any time you have an emerging technology that’s based on novel physical principles, that this deserves the highest level of scrutiny,” he said. “And we really haven’t had that.”

There is no firm schedule for introducing the system to US troops. But commanders in Iraq say the go-slow approach has had devastating consequences.

There is no way to calculate how many civilian deaths could have been avoided had the energy beam been available in Iraq. The bulk of the civilian casualties are due to sectarian warfare.

According to Associated Press statistics, more than 27,400 Iraqi civilians have been killed and over 31,000 wounded in war-related violence just since the new government took office in April 2005.

The Active Denial System uses a large, dish-shaped antenna and a V-shaped arm to send an invisible beam of waves to a target as far away as 500 yards.

With the unit mounted on the back of a vehicle, troops can operate a safe distance from bombs and small-arms fire. The beam penetrates the skin just enough to cause intense pain - like “having a hot light bulb pressed on your skin”.

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Barclays Bank will today accept defeat in the battle to buy ABN Amro after battling for six months to complete the world’s biggest banking takeover.

The bank has since May been locked in combat with a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland to buy the Dutch bank, but Barclays’ share-based offer has lagged RBS’s largely cash bid all summer and stands about €10bn short of the consortium’s €71bn (49bn) offer. It is understood Barclays will therefore formally concede today.

Barclays’ bid lapsed yesterday and the consortium’s will end today. With the offers closed, it is up to the banks to tot up the number of acceptances from ABN’s shareholders. RBS is unlikely to put out a full statement until Monday at the earliest.

Barclays’ chief executive, John Varley, wanted to buy all of ABN to form a so-called universal bank that would challenge established global giants such as Citigroup and HSBC. It agreed a deal with ABN in April, but Sir Fred Goodwin, the chief executive of RBS, crashed the party with his joint bid alongside Santander of Spain and Belgium’s Fortis. The consortium will divide up ABN’s business between them.

Some believe missing out on ABN leaves Barclays open to a bid and that it may try to do another big deal of its own soon.

Barclays and Bank of America are known to have talked to each other in the past, but few think the US bank will pounce in the near term.

Barclays’ shares rose 2.3 per cent yesterday. but have fallen by about a fifth since February.

“I think the wish of John Varley and the top team is to try to do something else transformational, but they will have to bide their time and get some currency back into their share price,” said the Oriel Securities analyst Mike Trippitt. “I don’t buy the instant bid story. This is still a company with a 40-odd billion market value which is a big chunk for anyone to bite off.”

The deal would have accelerated Barclays’ aim of increasing its international operations to account for about 75 per cent of profit from about half now.

Investors will be watching to see if Barclays has another deal in mind, though Mr Varley has said ABN was a specific opportunity and that the bank is able to grow its international business on its own or with smaller deals.

Barclays may not be able to rely on such rapid growth from the Barclays Capital investment bank, which rode the wave of the booming credit markets to become Barclays’ most important business. Those markets are now far less active after the credit crunch.

Former Arsenal striker Sebastian Larsson produced a stunning injury-time winner to get Alex McLeish’s reign at Birmingham off to a triumphant start. Larsson, recalled to the starting line-up by McLeish, fired an unstoppable 93rd-minute shot that inflicted a first defeat on Tottenham under Juande Ramos.

Spurs skipper Robbie Keane turned from hero to villain by scoring twice in three minutes at the beginning of the second half to overturn Birmingham’s early lead, only to then shown a straight red card for a lunging tackle on Fabrice Muamba. To be fair to Keane, referee Phil Dowd’s decision was a harsh one. The challenge was clumsy, rather than violent, and he did take some of the ball, whilst not catching Muamba particularly dangerously.

Earlier the Blues had been under constant siege when they took a shock lead, Younes Kaboul conceding an unnecessary penalty that Gary McSheffrey converted. Kaboul was substituted at half-time and the error-prone Frenchman appears to be chipping away at Ramos’s patience.

Prior to the goal, Spurs had missed chances through Darren Bent, Dimitar Berbatov and Keane during a one-sided first half. But Birmingham buckled under the pressure just four minutes after the interval, Johan Djourou conceding a penalty that Keane converted before adding his second shortly after.

In full command, Spurs looked set for victory but Cameron Jerome, returning to the team after a hernia operation, leveled with a brilliant finish. Spurs were up against it without Keane in the final 22 minutes after he was the victim of an over-zealous decision by referee Phil Dowd and the pressure eventually told with Larsson landing the telling blow.

Ramos started with a three-pronged attack in Bent, Keane and Berbatov. Jermain Defoe was on the bench following his bout of flu. Bent started in an advanced position alongside Berbatov with Keane lying deeper, but despite the impressive strike force on show the early danger came in Spurs territory. Jerome floated a pass across the face of goal but Muamba could not reach the ball.

A poorly struck shot from Berbatov flew into the arms of keeper Maik Taylor, recalled by McLeish, and moments later Birmingham were saved by poor finishing from Keane. Brilliant interplay between Bent and Keane - started by Kaboul’s long ball - saw the Republic of Ireland skipper jink into the area only to sky his shot from close range with just Taylor to beat.

Tenacious work from Aaron Lennon, completed by a cheeky backheal, set up Keane but he picked out Berbatov near the far post and the Bulgarian nodded over. Another Lennon backheel unlocked Birmingham’s defence but this time Keane did not have the legs to capitalise.

Spurs kept up the pressure with Taylor doing well to keep out Bent, but his save ricocheted on to the leg of an unwitting Liam Ridgewell who nearly put the ball into his own net. Birmingham then surged ahead against the run of play through McSheffrey - with Kaboul helping them into the lead. Larsson and McSheffrey combined to send the Blues forward charging down the left of the box where he was clipped by Kaboul and he made no mistake from the spot.

Normal service resumed after the Blues had taken the lead with Spurs back on the offensive. Keane was pulling the strings beautifully behind the front two, releasing Lennon whose bullet pass was cleared by Larsson in the nick of time. A perfectly placed 37th minute free-kick by Gareth Bale was heading straight for the top right corner but Taylor produced a superb stop.

Berbatov rampaged down the right but his final ball was deflected clear by Johan Djourou as the home side continued to dominate. Ramos hauled off Kaboul and Bent at half time, replacing them with Tom Huddlestone and Defoe, and four minutes after the break they equalised. Didier Zokora sent Berbatov racing through and, in a echo of Kaboul’s challenge, Djourou tripped the Spurs forward who went tumbling.

Keane rifled home the spot-kick for his 12th goal of the season and just three minutes later the club captain sent Spurs ahead.

A corner was cleared as far as Huddlestone and the midfielder saw Keane’s run, finding him with a lofted ball that was prodded into the net. But Birmingham leveled through Jerome in the 62nd minute, the England Under-21 striker waved through midfield by weak tackles from Michael Dawson and Zokora before finishing neatly.

Berbatov was cleared off the line by Ridgewell and Spurs were dealt another hammer blow in the 68th minute when Keane was given his marching orders. A diving one-legged lunge on Muamba resulted in a straight red card from referee Phil Dowd. Defoe looked lively in the final 20 minutes but Spurs, a man down, found themselves stretched as Mikael Forssell hit the crossbar from point blank range.

Paul Robinson made a smart save from Olivier Kapo but then the Blues struck, Larsson breaking Spurs’ hearts to register his side’s first win at White Hart Lane for 24 years.