Bush veto fury

Democrats and human rights advocates criticised US president George Bush’s veto of a Bill that would have banned the CIA from using simulated drowning and other controversial interrogation methods to gain information from suspected terrorists.

Mr Bush said such tactics had helped foil terror plots, but his critics likened some methods to torture and said they sullied America’s reputation around the world.

“This president had the chance to end the torture debate for good, yet he chose instead to leave the door open to use torture in the future,” said Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein of California, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.