Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld continued to feel the heat from the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal as the number of Democrats calling for his resignation continued to grow over the weekend.

Senator Joseph Biden, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Rumsfeld must resign over the abuse of Iraqi detainees by American soldiers.

"In my view he should go," he said on CBS's Face the Nation.

Donald Rumsfeld

Former Democratic presidential candidate and retired Gen. Wesley Clark told NBC's Meet the Press that it would be "patriotic" for Rumsfeld to resign.

Top Democrats, including Edward Kennedy and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, have earlier stated that Rumsfeld should step down.

Although most Republicans, including the President and Vice President, are standing behind Rumsfeld, some said his future is still uncertain.

"I think it's still in question whether Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and, quite frankly, General Myers can command the respect and the trust and the confidence of the military and the American people to lead this country," said Senator Chuck Hagel.

"Over the next couple of weeks, the president's going to have to make some hard choices," he said.

"This is deeper and wider than I think most in this administration understand. Aside from the fact we're losing the Iraqi people, we're losing the Muslim, Arab world, and we're losing the support of our allies," he told Face the Nation.

Republican Senator John McCain said it would be "terribly premature" to call for Rumsfeld's resignation.

"We can make a much better judgment after we have gotten a lot of the answers," he said.

Earlier this week, President George W. Bush offered his support for Rumsfeld, saying "he'll stay in my Cabinet."

On Saturday, Vice President Dick Cheney released a statement saying Rumsfeld was the best secretary of defence the U.S.has ever had and that people should "get off his case."