US: CIA director Porter Goss has acknowledged that the agency's interrogators use "unique and innovative ways" to extract information from prisoners, but insists that they do not use torture.
Mr Goss told USA Today that a proposal to ban the "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of detainees could forbid techniques which have yielded valuable information. "This agency does not do torture . . . We use lawful capabilities to collect vital information, and we do it in a variety of unique and innovative ways, all of which are legal and none of which are torture."
He declined to comment on reports that the CIA has run secret prisons in central Europe but said that the co-operation of allies was essential in combating terrorism. The Senate has backed the proposal to forbid government employees from using torture anywhere in the world, but the House of Representatives has yet to approve the measure. The White House wants Congress to exempt the CIA from the ban.