CIA backs off detention, interrogation

WASHINGTON, April 11 (UPI) -- The CIA has all-but ended its interrogation role abroad, except for those caught in Iraq and Afghanistan, causing concern among some U.S. congressional members.

Criticism of President George W. Bush's administration interrogation and detention policies prompted President Obama to stop sending suspected terrorists to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, while publicity forced the CIA to shut down a network of secret prisons, leaving U.S. officials without an obvious place to hold new prisoners. In addition, a criminal investigation has been under way for a while into whether CIA officers broke the law by conducting extreme interrogations of suspected terrorists during the Bush administration.

"The CIA is out of the detention and interrogation business," a U.S. official familiar with intelligence operations told the Los Angeles Times.

Former CIA official Paul Pillar added, "Given the enormous headaches involved, it's not surprising there are fewer people coming into our hands," the Times reported Sunday.

U.S. officials said they expect the CIA will be given access to intelligence gleaned from Indonesia's interrogations of Indonesian militant Umar Patek -- a prime suspect in the 2002 bombings that killed 202 people in Bali -- and could be allowed to sit in and provide guidance, the Times reported.

But critics counter sitting in and providing guidance fall short of controlling questioning.

"The tangled mess of legal and policy issues surrounding detention right now makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to gain complete access for questioning," said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. "This forces us to work through the host country, which is not always optimal for a number of reasons."