Bush admits to CIA jails; top suspects are relocated

WASHINGTON -- President Bush yesterday announced 14 high-profile terrorist suspects -- including the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks -- have been transferred from CIA custody to the Guantanamo Bay detention center for prosecution, the first time the president has acknowledged the existence of CIA-operated secret prisons for high-priority detainees.

But the president also adamantly defended the CIA, making it clear that, when it comes to terrorism, the agency will continue to operate under its own code of conduct. Bush said the agency's ``tough but necessary" interrogation methods don't amount to torture and have yielded information that thwarted terrorist attacks and led to the capture of top Al Qaeda leaders.

``I can say that questioning the detainees in this program has given us information that has saved innocent lives by helping us stop new attacks here in the United States and across the world," Bush said. The CIA held the men outside the United States, Bush said, because ``it's been necessary to move these individuals to an environment where they can be held secretly, questioned by experts, and when appropriate, prosecuted for terrorist acts."

The suspects include Khalid Sheik Mohammed , described as the architect of the Sept. 11 attacks; Ramzi Binalshibh , an alleged would-be Sept. 11 hijacker; and Abu Zubaydah , who was believed to be a link between Osama bin Laden and many Al Qaeda cells before his capture in Pakistan in 2002.

Hours before Bush's speech, the US Army released new rules on treatment of prisoners. The rules ban troops from using ``degrading, humiliating" treatment against detainees, including forced nudity, mock executions, and a harsh interrogation technique called ``water boarding," which simulates drowning.

Made just five days before the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Bush's speech is part of a White House campaign to promote its domestic security policies, hoping to boost Republican candidates in the remaining two months before congressional elections. Bush also addressed two of his administration's thorniest problems: its future handling of terrorist detainees and the establishment of military tribunals to try them.

``We think the Defense Department manual goes a very long way toward addressing those severe problems that plagued the interrogations, in terms of human rights," said Leonard Rubenstein , executive director of the Boston-based Physicians for Human Rights. ``At the same time, the president of the United States got up and defended extraordinary rendition and all the interrogation techniques used by the CIA, which we know are extraordinarily harsh."

Rubenstein said the president's support of CIA techniques ``shows an unwillingness to go the distance in stopping torture."

The Army's new manual, called ``Human Intelligence Collector Operations," applies to all the armed services, but doesn't cover the CIA. The clandestine service has come under particular criticism for its practice of ``extraordinary rendition," in which it flies suspects to other countries where US rules on interrogations -- and torture -- do not apply.

Senator John F. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, said the Defense Department's rewritten manual was a policy shift ``that follows the sad legacy of five years during which this administration abused our Constitution, violated our laws, and most importantly failed to make America safe."

Bush made the announcements about the trial in a 36-minute speech in the White House's East Room to an audience that included some relatives of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. When Bush announced the terror suspects were in Guantanamo awaiting trial, the room erupted in applause.

Though he said little about the CIA's detentions and interrogations, the president outlined, in unprecedented detail, several instances in which he said the CIA's interrogation of top terror suspects disrupted Al Qaeda's plans or led agents to operatives high in the group's chain of command. For example, Bush said, Zubaydah, the alleged bin Laden confidant , told agents enough to thwart a planned attack in the United States before he stopped talking.

Then, Bush said, the CIA ``used an additional set of procedures" approved by the Justice Department to get Zubaydah talking again. Bush wouldn't describe the procedures, because ``if we did, it would help the terrorist to learn how to resist questioning . . . But I can say the procedures were tough, and they were safe, and lawful, and necessary."

Zubaydah eventually gave agents information that led to the arrest of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, known in US government circles by his initials, KSM.

``Once in our custody, KSM was questioned by the CIA using these procedures, and he soon provided information that helped us stop another planned attack on the United States," Bush said. Subsequent CIA interrogations stopped a planned strike on Marines in Djibouti involving a water tanker packed with explosives; a planned car- and motorcycle-bomb attack on the US Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan; and a plot to hijack jetliners and fly them into Heathrow Airport and Canary Wharf in London.

In June, the US Supreme Court struck down Bush's plan to use military tribunals similar to those employed after World War II, saying the tribunals would violate US and international law. Yesterday the president urged Congress to approve legislation he drafted that would make those tribunals legal -- and include rules that would allow the government to bar defendants' access to classified information used as evidence against them. The White House also wants Congress to grant immunity to federal officials involved in interrogations of suspected terrorists, protecting them from criminal prosecution or lawsuits.

But to approve the plan, the White House must bridge a rift within the Republican Party, with only a few weeks left in a congressional session that has grown partisan on national security issues.

Bush's plan differs on key points with one crafted by three influential Republican senators -- John W. Warner of Virginia, Armed Services chairman; John McCain of Arizona; and Lindsey O. Graham of South Carolina. Their proposal would guarantee defendants access to all evidence used against them, including classified information.

In addition, the senators' bill would have trials reviewed by the existing military court of appeals, instead of the special appellate court that the White House wants to establish. McCain also said he was concerned that the president's plan would allow testimony obtained in coercive interrogations to be used against defendants in some circumstances.

Democratic leaders say most party members are likely to back the McCain, Warner, and Graham proposal. Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada and the Senate minority leader, called on Republican leaders to debate that bill instead of the White House plan.

``The last thing we need is a repeat of the arrogant, go-it-alone behavior that has jeopardized and delayed efforts to bring these terrorists to justice for five years," Reid said.

Some Republican leaders embraced the president's proposal and vowed that Congress would act soon on his recommendations. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican and the Senate majority whip, said the White House legislation strikes the right balance between justice for the accused and keeping classified information away from terrorists.

Watching the developments in Washington unfold from afar was Stephanie Holland-Brodney of Wayland, who lost her mother, Cora Holland of Sudbury, in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Holland-Brodney was not convinced that Bush's initiatives were genuine.

Coming so close to the Sept. 11 anniversary, ``It sounds pretty calculated to me," she said.

Brian MacQuarrie in Boston contributed to this report. John Donnelly can be reached at donnelly@globe.com