CIA gives up water-boarding

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. CIA has banned water-boarding -- pouring water into a suspect’s mouth as an interrogation technique -- ABC News reported Friday.

Officials told ABC the agency’s director, Gen. Michael Hayden, made the change last year at the recommendation of the deputy director, Steve Kappes. A CIA spokesman refused to confirm what techniques the agency uses.

The Bush administration has generally maintained that water-boarding is not torture. But critics say that, because it stimulates reflexes associated with drowning, it amounts to a mock execution.

"I have sought that result for years,” U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said. “Water-boarding is a form of torture. And I'm convinced that this will not only help us in our interrogation techniques, but it will also be helpful for our image in the world."

The most drastic technique now available to the CIA during interrogations is forcing suspects to stand for hours with their feet shackled to the floor and their hands cuffed, ABC reported.