US:The senate intelligence committee has promised a thorough investigation into the Central Intelligence Agency's destruction of at least two video recordings documenting the interrogation of terrorism suspects.
The agency admitted on Thursday that it destroyed the tapes two years ago, claiming that keeping them could have posed a security risk to the agents involved in the interrogations.
CIA director Michael Hayden told employees that house and senate intelligence committee leaders had been told of the existence of the tapes and of the agency's intention to destroy them. He also said the CIA's internal watchdog watched the tapes in 2003 and verified that the interrogation practices used on two suspects a year earlier were legal.
Some Democrats in Congress who were told about the tapes said they urged the CIA not to destroy them and Republican Pete Hoekstra, a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he had no recollection of being informed of the videotaping programme.
"Congressman Hoekstra does not recall ever being told of the existence or destruction of these tapes. He believes that Director Hayden is being generous in his claim that the committee was informed. He believes the committee should have been fully briefed and consulted on how this was handled," a spokesman said.
The New York Times reported yesterday that the recordings showed CIA operatives subjecting terrorism suspects - including Abu Zubaydah, the first detainee in CIA custody - to severe interrogation techniques. The paper cited officials who said the tapes were destroyed in part because of concern that videos showing harsh interrogation methods could expose CIA personnel to legal risks.
The tapes were not provided to the September 11 Commission, set up by President George Bush to investigate the 2001 attacks, which made a formal request to the CIA for transcripts and other documentary evidence taken from interrogations.
In November 2005, during the trial of al-Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, a judge asked for confirmation of whether the government "has video or audio tapes of these interrogations" and then named specific ones. Eleven days later, the government denied it had video or audio tapes of those specific interrogations.
The CIA's admission came as the senate and house intelligence committees voted to require all American interrogators to abide by the Army Field Manual, which prohibits coercive methods, including waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning. Sunate intelligence committee chairman Jay Rockefeller said that running a separate CIA interrogation programme was against US interests.
"Our committee has wrestled with this issue for a long time and finally, a majority has agreed that we should no longer have two systems - one for CIA interrogators and one for the military," he said.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Mr Bush would veto any Bill that included a limitation on the interrogation methods the CIA could use.