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9/11 mastermind given waterboard torture 183 times
Martin Bentham, Home Affairs Editor20 Apr 2009
The mastermind of the September 11 attacks on America was “waterboarded” 183 times by the CIA, it emerged today as new details of torture sessions were revealed.
US justice department documents show that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — who has said he planned the 2001 destruction of New York's World Trade Center — was subjected to the near-drowning technique repeatedly throughout March 2003 in an attempt to obtain information.
The papers also disclose that another al Qaeda leader, Abu Zubaydah, was waterboarded 83 times.
Last week previously confidential memos were published listing the range of practices approved for use by the CIA during President George Bush's time in office. As well as waterboarding, the techniques — all of which have now been outlawed by President Barack Obama — included slamming suspects against false walls, forcing them into small boxes and shackling for long periods.
Some details on the memos were blanked out, but US bloggers have discovered that some of this “hidden” information, including the extent of waterboarding against Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah, is visible in one copy from 30 May 2005
The repeated use of waterboarding — and the fact that the amount of water used was far greater than previously thought — will raise questions about assurances given by the Bush administration that strict guidelines were in place to control the use of such tactics.
The US Senate Intelligence Committee has already begun an investigation into the use of the techniques, and how they came to be authorised, although President Obama has ruled out any prosecutions against those who carried out the torture on the grounds that they were following official policy at the time.
The torture of Sheikh Mohammed, who is reported to have admitted to organising up to 30 al Qaeda plots including the 9/11 attacks, followed his capture in Pakistan in March 2003.
He was subsequently transferred to the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in 2006 and last year appeared before a pre-trial hearing with four other alleged al Qaeda terrorists at which he and his co-defendants indicated that they wanted to plead guilty to charges relating to their role in the September 11 attacks.
Among the other plots which Sheikh Mohammed has reportedly confessed to organising are plans to attack Heathrow, Canary Wharf and Big Ben.
Sheikh Mohammed is also said to have admitted plotting to blow up the Panama Canal and the failed shoebombing of a transatlantic airliner by Londoner Richard Reid, a well as the successful Bali nightclub bombings of 2002 and an attack on a Kenyan hotel in the same year.
Reader views (22)
Should of just drowned him.
- Bensod, Manchester, 27/04/2009 11:21
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At least he still has his head!
- Ade, London, 21/04/2009 08:29
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Good!
- Jenny, san francisco ca ( ex-londoner), 21/04/2009 04:41
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he deserves it
- Pepe, envigado colombia, 21/04/2009 02:02
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That's a shame...
- Ralph Jolly, chicago usa, 20/04/2009 22:51
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Diddums
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, 20/04/2009 22:08
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So What! He has no right to complain, it is nothing to what l would have done to him.
- Vince, London, West London area, 20/04/2009 18:54
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If this poor lamb were caught in UK, he would have had his lawyers demanding compensation. And got it,most likely. They'll know better next time.
- Chris, London UK, 20/04/2009 18:30
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Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!
- Rogan, Irving, 20/04/2009 18:24
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Don't you think if someone is being tortured they will say anything - give you the information you want regardless. You tread a thin line if you condone torture; you won't be thanked by your own soldiers who will receive likewise treatment by governments who will point to the USA and UK for ignoring proticol themselves.
- Andy, London, 20/04/2009 18:07
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I think the idea of human rights needs rethinking. Nobody talks of the rights of the people who are killed and their families, lets face it the rules have changed. Deport anyone who incites hatred, make all visas for foreign nationals have a clause that they can be revoked for suspicion of serious terrorism activities or inciting others to do this. Time to get tough.
- Dave, Madrid, 20/04/2009 17:56
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waterboarding...now theres an interesting concept, is that where he's tied beneath a surfboard in shark infested waters...either way I think he got off lightly...sympathy..NOT
- Alan, London, 20/04/2009 17:02
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Thats cheered me up.
- Fred, Horsham, 20/04/2009 16:46
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only 183 times?
what were they doing the rest of the time?
surely nothing less than 500 would've been acceptable.
- Scott, london, 20/04/2009 16:13
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A TERRIBLE THING, BUT HOW MANY PEOPLE DID THIS GENTLEMAN ALLEGEDLY CONDEMN DURING HIS ESCAPADES QUITE KNOWINGLY AND DELIBERATELY TO DEATH BY CRASHING INTO A BUILDING, FIRE, CRUSHING, SMOKE OR JUMPING OUT OF A WINDOW, NOT TO MENTION THOSE WHO DIED DUE TO HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES RELEASED IN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TOWERS.
- Helen, norwich, 20/04/2009 16:09
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Whether or not you think 'water-boarding' is morally acceptable, (and clearly some here do) it's really not very effective is it?
You'd have thought that after the 180th time they'd have realised it wasn't working too well and tried another approach...
- John, London, 20/04/2009 15:53
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AHHHHH, poor little darling, shame i didnt have him for a day , he would have got far worse than that.
- Brian, Wiltshire, 20/04/2009 15:40
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Ah diddums...
- Shelly, London, 20/04/2009 15:34
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Why should we care about this beast's human rights? Sounds like he got off lightly.
- Casper Slides, Ibiza, Spain, 20/04/2009 15:31
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How easy it has been for unbridled brutality by the US intelligence agencies to tarnish the good name of America. Waterboarding is torture, however lawyers might try to weasel word the definitions and Japanese secret police who used it on British and French prisoners during WWII paid the ultimate price for doing so. Unfortunately the UK has been tarnished by the same brush and the moral high ground lost.
- Peter Haldane, London, 20/04/2009 15:20
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Good, I have absolutley no pity for this man, and if they were able to extract information out of him that would save more lives, then so be it. Lets not forget he masterminded 9/11 and killed thousands or innocent people, people that woke up that day and had no idea what was in store for them, Mums and Dads gone forever. This man is scum and there is no remorse for his interegations here!
- Nick Nack Paddy Mac, London UK, 20/04/2009 14:59
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GOOD!
- Colin, London, 20/04/2009 14:57
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