CIA interrogation involved drill, gun

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Former and current U.S. officials say a CIA report details the U.S. agency's threatened use of a drill and gun in the interrogation of an al-Qaida suspect.

The unidentified officials said the report, due for release to the public next week, details how captured al-Qaida commander Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was threatened with a power drill and a gun by CIA interrogators in an attempt to procure information, The Washington Post said Saturday.

The anonymous officials said he gun and drill were not used on Nashiri but placed nearby in an attempt to instill fear in him.

The CIA inspector general's report, which was written in 2004, offers details regarding the federal agency's interrogation program, particularly those efforts used on Nashiri following his capture in November 2002.

The Post said three months before Nashiri was captured, then-Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel head Jay S. Bybee informed CIA officials that threats of "imminent harm" were legal as long as they did not expose prisoners to prolonged mental harm.

CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said government prosecutors have reviewed all the incidents detailed in the report.

"The CIA in no way endorsed behavior -- no matter how infrequent -- that went beyond formal guidance," he said.