CIA tapes' destruction to be probed

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department and the CIA said Saturday they will investigate the spy agency's 2005 destruction of terror suspect interrogation tapes.

Congressional Democrats have been pushing hard for an investigation, contending disposal of the tapes by the Central Intelligence Agency was tantamount to obstruction of justice in an effort to cover up evidence of possible abuse and torture of detainees, the Voice of America reported.

George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley called the allegations "very serious" and said they "raise as many as six identifiable crimes ranging from contempt of Congress, to contempt of Justice, to perjury, to false statements," VOA reported.

The tapes were made during 2002 interrogations of suspected al-Qaida operatives that included techniques critics consider torture. CIA Director Michael Hayden has acknowledged his agency destroyed the tapes in 2005, saying it was to protect the identities of the interrogators.

A CIA official in charge of covert operations allegedly ordered the tapes destroyed without telling CIA attorneys, VOA said.