Grisly Video May Slow Nuclear Pact

The emergence of a videotape depicting a grisly beating administered by a member of the royal family of the United Arab Emirates has complicated a U.S. effort to create the Arab world's first nuclear energy program, officials said.

The Obama administration had been preparing to send a U.S.-UAE energy accord to Congress for review. Then came the tape. Screened for a stunned congressional audience last week, it shows a robed sheik heaping sand into the mouth of a writhing Afghan merchant pinned to the ground by uniformed police.

The sheik later slams a board with a protruding nail into the Afghan's naked backside. In a gruesome conclusion, a black SUV is driven over the victim's bruised and bleeding body.