Fears that US will use 'torture lite' on al-Qaida No 3

The Guardian (U.K.) ^ | 03/05/03 | Duncan Campbell

[Pokey78]

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the al-Qaida leader captured in Pakistan over the weekend, was yesterday believed to be under interrogation at a US base in Afghanistan.

The White House denied he was being tortured, although there is speculation that a variety of techniques known in the intelligence community as "torture lite" would be used to get information from him.

Mohammed, who is said to to be the number three in al-Qaida, was arrested on Saturday in Pakistan, in a joint operation by the CIA and Pakistani police. He was initially interrogated in Pakistan but has now been moved.

The US does not comment on individual prisoners held in the wake of September 11, but Pakistani officials said they understood that he was now being held in Afghanistan, reportedly at the Bagram base.

The arrest follows last month's capture in Pakistan of Muhammed Abdel Rahman, a son of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who was convicted in 1995 of conspiring to blow up the UN offices in New York.

Information provided by Mr Rahman led to the latest arrest, according to a report in the New York Times.

There was also speculation that Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who was arrested in Pakistan last year, had given information about Mohammed under interrogation. The two had been in hiding together in Karachi.

Qari Abdul Wali, a Taliban military commander in hiding near the Afghan town of Spin Boldak, told Reuters that al-Qaida would remain intact despite the arrest.

"The arrest of a few individuals from within al-Qaida's ranks will have no bearing on the organisation's functioning," Mr Wali said. "Representatives of al-Qaida and the Taliban keep their communications going, but that doesn't mean we are likely to snitch on each other."

Interrogators are likely to seek two key pieces of information from Mohammed: plans for attacks on the US or US interests, and the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said in response to questions about the detention of Mohammed: "The standard for any type of interrogation of somebody in American custody is to be humane and to follow all international laws and accords dealing with this type subject. That is precisely what has been happening and exactly what will happen."

But lawyers for those detained after September 11 believe prisoners held abroad are often subjected to torture.

Randy Hamud, who represents a number of Arabs detained in San Diego, said he believed his clients had been taken to countries where they could be tortured. There have also been reports that police in countries such as Pakistan and Jordan are given prisoners by the US in the knowledge that they will be tortured.

A former member of US navy intelligence said that "torture lite" - sleep deprivation, and placing prisoners in awkward or painful positions for hours at a time - would be used.

The Democratic senator John Rockefeller suggested at the weekend that the US might consider turning over Mohammed to a country that does not ban torture. He told CNN: "I wouldn't take anything off the table where he is concerned, because this is the man who has killed hundreds and hundreds of Americans over the last 10 years."

He had since said that he was not condoning torture.

The secretary of homeland security, Tom Ridge, said Mohammed would have significant information but would be hard to interrogate.

"We know that these individuals are trained and programmed in the craft of evasion. It will be very, very difficult to extricate information from this guy at this time."

There was also speculation that Mohammed would be questioned about the murder last year of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

[Utah Girl]

Sleep deprivation and putting them in awkward positions is torture lite? Sheesh.

[egarvue]

The journalists at The Guardian collectively wet themselves at the thought of this poor, dear man undergoing "torture lite". Meanwhile, the thousands of grieving relatives of the 9-11 victims have to live with the fact that demonic bastard is still breathing...

[Dacus943]

"Fears that US will use 'torture lite' on al-Qaida No 3"

Fears??? More like sincere PRAYERS!!!

[The South Texan]

I say it is time to open an old fassion can of whoop as on this bastard!

[Diddle E. Squat]

I hope the media, ANSWER, and the rest of the vile left screams at the top of their lungs great concern about whether this guy is tortured. Let their true nature be revealed, it will not play well in Peoria.

[TexanToTheCore]

Rather than "Toture Lite", we should be using "Torture Turbo".

[canuck_conservative]

Sleep deprivation can be surprisingly effective, as the KGB well knew. After a certain period of time, the human body simply REQUIRES sleep, and will do anything to get it.

It's not dramatic, it's not violent - but it works, where violence often fails.

[Viva Le Dissention]

Well, you see, in America, we have this thing called a criminal justice system, and in this criminal justice system, we have a lot of standards, like that people are innocent until proven guilty, they have due process rights, etc.

Now, I know out current president likes to ignore a lot of these really inconvenient things when he wants to execute some people, but there are some of us that would really rather prefer that we were ever to get arrested, we wouldn't be tortured (even tortured "lite"--sleep deprivation is a very powerful tool) in order to extract a confession--after all, we've got to make sure we're killing the right fellow! A confession under torture is VERY effective for something like that.

We might as well just go ahead bring back the Star Chamber for our "war" on terrorism. I think that would make a lot of you folks happy.

[AF68]

Boo effing hoo! Cry me a river for a mass murderer!

[afraid]

Those bruises? Ah, he just fell down some stairs.

[redheadtoo]

I understand that he was with his wife and family at the time of his arrest. His loved ones should have been taken into custody at the same time. I have heard that Abu Nidal cried like a baby and spilled everything he knew when he found out that his captors had his family.

[B-Cause]

Bump

Rather than "Torture Lite", we should be using "Torture Turbo".

Great response Tex!

[Mr. Mojo]

Exactly, what is this "fears" nonsense? What sort of American stays up at night "fearful" that mass murderering Al Qaeda trash are getting their fingernails peeled off? Not me, that's for sure.

[zarf]

Wow!! I'm stunned!!! I never could have predicted the appearance of this article!! </ sarcasm>

There must be a natural law that squares the level of leftist outrage at the treatment of a perp according to the brutality of the crime committed by the perp.

[xJones]

Oh well, goodness gracious, let's not do anything unto him that he wouldn't, and already has done to countless others. The knowledge that he has of terrorists under his control could save many lives, but let's don't hurt his feelings.

[MinuteGal]

"Quri Abdul Wali, a Taliban military commander, in hiding near the Afghan town of Spin Boldak, told Reuters.......".

Hmmmm, maybe some other people should be subjected to "light torture" if you get my drift.

Leni

[guitfiddlist]

Maybe we should contract the interrogations out to a cruel and murderous regime wonderfully exempt from liberal criticism, say like China. That would shut all YOU people up, until you backflip and come up with all the great excuses libs usually give for Communist regimes. "Well, like yaknow, they're like socially progressive n'sh*t. So torture is like ok. They're like torturing reactionaries, man."

[magellan]

By interogating someone in a country that allows torture, the potential for a effective "Good Cop/Bad Cop" routine is maximized.

Given we have members of his family, the potential for psychological games is very strong.

Sleep deprivation works very effectively, but takes time.

In the interim, I'm sure we can wire the guy for sound, and hook him into a polygraph of some sort, to get an idea of how close to the truth his answers are.

In short, I am willing to bet our interrogation methods are much more sophisticated than traditional methods used in middle eastern countries.

[Terry Mross]

Who "fears" this guy will be tortured? Do you "fear" he'll be tortured? I don't "fear" he'll be tortured.