Bush aides may be prosecuted for interrogations

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama envisages prosecuting former officials who authorised terror interrogations seen by critics as torture, as a senate report said top Bush aides were to blame.

Obama distinguished between intelligence operatives acting under White House legal authority who used coercive tactics on al-Qaida suspects and George W Bush administration lawyers who devised the legal cover for their actions.

“For those who carried out some of these operations within the four corners of legal opinions or guidance that had been provided from the White House, I do not think it’s appropriate for them to be prosecuted,” Obama said.