Official admits interrogations aggressive

Washington: The top US intelligence official acknowledged on Sunday that the CIA had used "tough" and "aggressive" interrogation techniques.

He, however, said these techniques were discontinued when the Supreme Court ruled that terrorism suspects are entitled to the protections of the Geneva Convention.

Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte said the CIA might still question terrorism suspects captured overseas, but added that it is "up in the air" whether agency interrogators would be free to employ methods that have been used over the past five years and that Negroponte described as necessary and effective.

"There's been precious little activity of that kind for a number of months now, and certainly since the Supreme Court decision," Negroponte said on Fox News Sunday, citing "legal uncertainties surrounding the entire programme and which we think must be clarified."

Campaign

Negroponte's appearance was part of a campaign by the Bush administration to defend a controversial CIA programme in which high-ranking Al Qaida operatives have been held in secret prisons overseas and subjected to coercive interrogation methods that critics contend are tantamount to torture. Negroponte did not discuss specific interrogation techniques, but the CIA is known to have employed such methods as sleep deprivation, light and sound manipulation and "water-boarding," in which a detainee is strapped to a board and made to fear he is in danger of drowning.

In appearances on the Sunday talk shows, Negroponte and White House National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley both reiterated the White House position that the CIA programme would likely be shut down if Congress does not approve legislation.

Bush administration expresses confidence

The Bush administration and holdout Republican senators are expressing confidence that they can reach a compromise on rules for CIA interrogations of suspected terrorists. Neither the president's national security aides nor some of the lawmakers who are resisting White House pressure would say how they can reconcile their deep differences.

As a result, it is unclear if Congress quickly can pass legislation authorising aggressive methods against terrorist detainees, as President George W. Bush wants.