Waterboarding terror suspects is illegal, insists Downing Street

Published on Tuesday 9 November 2010 17:24

DOWNING Street yesterday contradicted claims by the former US president that the use of waterboarding to prevent a terror attack on British soil was legal.

George Bush stated information extracted from terrorist suspects using the controversial method helped foil attacks on Heathrow Airport and Canary Wharf.

He denied waterb oarding, which simulates drowning, was tantamount to torture, and insisted that the action had helped save lives. However, the claims, outlined in Mr Bush's newly published memoirs, attracted condemnation from human rights groups.

The book, Decision Point, reveals he authorised the waterboarding of al-Qaeda leader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of three men to be interrogated in such a way.

Mr Bush writes: "Their interrogations helped break up plots to attack American military and diplomatic facilities abroad, Heathrow Airport and Canary Wharf in London, and multiple targets in the United States."

However, a spokeswoman for No 10 confirmed Britain still considered waterboarding to constitute torture. "It comes under that definition in our view," she said.

Former Labour chairman of the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee Kim Howells said he doubted Mr Bush's claims that information to foil the UK plots came from waterboarding sessions.

Mr Howells said: "I don't think there was any doubt there were real plots.

"Where I doubt what Mr Bush has said is that this, what we regard as torture, actually produced information which was instrumental in preventing those plots coming to fruition. I'm not convinced of that."

Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: "After the atrocity of 9/11, the American president could have united the world against terrorism and towards the rule of law.

"Instead, Mr Bush led a great democracy into the swamp of lies, war and torture in freedom's name."

Steve Ballinger, of Amnesty International, said: "George Bush is wrong to say waterboarding is justified because torture is illegal under international law."