Review under way on foot of CIA torture report

THE US government has launched a criminal investigation into CIA interrogations as a declassified report revealed threats to kill a suspect’s children and the use of an electric drill to scare another detainee.

The document, compiled by the agency’s inspector general in 2004 but released this week, includes allegations that an agent implied that a prisoner’s mother would be sexually assaulted in front of him unless he spoke.

It could lead to criminal charges against the interrogators responsible, with the US attorney general appointing a senior prosecutor to investigate claims of mistreatment.

Release of the five-year- old document came as President Barack Obama gave his approval to a new interrogation unit to be supervised by the White House.

It marks a move away from the Bush-era policy of giving the CIA the lead when it comes to questioning al-Qaida suspects. But the administration denied that it was sidelining the CIA.

Bill Burton, deputy press secretary to the White House, said the new High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, would be a cross-agency body, led by an FBI official.

It comes as the CIA faced strong criticism over methods it employed under the previous administration.

The release of formerly classified documents followed a lawsuit from pressure group the American Civil Liberties Union.

The document outlined a catalogue of harsh interrogation techniques that many believe transgressed the rules of law.

It revealed that agents warned September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that his children were going to be killed in the event of further attacks in the US.

Another alleged al-Qaida member was told that his mother would be sexually assaulted if he did not speak.

Abd al-Nashiri, who was interrogated over the 2000 bombing of the naval ship USS Cole, was hooded, handcuffed and threatened with a gun and an electric drill.

In another incident, interrogators pinched the carotid artery of a prisoner causing him to nearly pass out at which point he was shaken awake.

The procedure was repeated three times by the CIA agent.

US Attorney General Eric Holder was said to have been disgusted when he read a classified version of the report earlier this year.

Obama has previously indicated that he does not favour prosecuting Bush administration officials for alleged abuses.

Yesterday, Burton said that the president believes the US “should be looking forward, not backwards”.

Holder has appointed federal prosecutor John Durham to investigate alleged CIA abuses.

In an email to employees, CIA director Leon Panetta said he intends to “stand up for those officers who did what their country asked and who followed the legal guidance they were given”.