Bush admits to secret CIA jails

Washington: President George W. Bush yesterday acknowledged the existence of previously secret CIA prisons around the world and said 14 'high-value' terrorism suspects - including the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks - have been transferred from the system to Guantanamo for trials.

He said the "small number'' of detainees that have been kept in CIA custody include people responsible for the bombing of the warship USS Cole in 2000 in Yemen and the 1998 attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, in addition to the 2001 attacks.

"It has been necessary to move these individuals to an environment where they can be held secretly, questioned by experts and, when appropriate, prosecuted for terrorist acts,'' Bush said in a White House speech with families of those killed in the 9/11 attacks making up part of the audience.

"These are dangerous men, with unparalleled knowledge about terrorist networks and their plans of new attacks. The security of our nation depend on our ability to learn what these terrorists know.''

The announcement from Bush is the first time the administration has acknowledged the existence of CIA prisons. Bush would not detail interrogation techniques used, saying only that they are tough but do not constitute torture.

He said the CIA turned to an "alternative set of procedures'' that were successful after Zain Al Abedine Abu Zubaydah, who was believed to be a link between Osama Bin Laden and many Al Qaida cells, and others had stopped providing information.

TRANSFERRED TO GUANTANAMO
14 'high-value' terror suspects