A damning US Senate report concluded that the CIA misled Congress and the American public by downplaying the severity of its interrogations and overstating intelligence gleaned from the sessions, The Washington Post said.

The CIA has used harsh interrogation techniques against high-level al-Qaida figures, including forcibly submerging them under water until they fear they will drown, it was reported today.

PAKISTANI investigators were interrogating six members of an al-Qaida cell yesterday and expected to glean information that would lead to the arrest of more members of the militant group, officials said.

The US was today accused of handing al-Qaida suspects over to foreign intelligence agencies where they can been tortured.