Washington: US intelligence is using third degree methods to elicit information from al- Qaida and Taleban prisoners in its overseas detention centres, and if these techniques did not work, were shipping them to countries where torture is common, a media report said on December 26.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is using "stress and duress" system to break its prisoners in detention centres at Bagram Air base in Afghanistan, Diego Garcia islands in the Indian Ocean and other secret detention centres, it said.

Prisoners in Bagram are held in metal shipping containers and kept standing or kneeling for hours in black hoods or spray-painted goggles, intelligence specialists familiar with CIA interrogation methods were quoted as saying.

At times, the detainees are held in awkward, painful positions and deprived of sleep with a 24-hour bombardment of lights, part of the "stress and duress techniques", they said.

While specially trained CIA officials personally supervised the interrogation of al-Qaida and Taleban leaders, lower level captives were handed over to foreign intelligence agencies - notably those of Jordan, Morocco, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, with a list of questions the agency wanted answered.

These "extraordinary renditions" are done without resorting to legal procedures and usually involve countries with security services known for using brutal methods, the 'Washington Post' reported.

According to US officials, nearly 3,000 suspected al-Qaida members and supporters have been detained worldwide since September 11, 2001. About 625 are at the US military's confinement facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Some officials estimated that fewer than 100 captives have been "rendered" to other countries.

While the Guantanamo Bay is open to visits by military lawyers, reporters and the Red Cross, the Bagram detention centre is strictly off-limits for officials of even other US agencies, the 'Post' reported.

The US government publicly denounces the use of torture but each of the national security officials interviewed for the 'Post's' article defended the use of violence against captives as "just and necessary". They expressed confidence that the American public would back their view.

"If you don't violate someone's Human Rights some of the time, you probably are not doing your job," said one official who has supervised the capture and transfer of accused terrorists. "I don't think we want to be promoting a view of zero tolerance on this." The CIA refused to comment.

The method of arrest of the suspects was also violent, the daily said.

Abu Zubaida, who is believed to be the most important al-Qaida member in detention, was shot in the groin during his capture in Pakistan in March. National security officials said he is now cooperating and his information has led to the apprehension of other al- Qaida members.

US officials said many of the successes in obtaining information from terrorists were a result of information gained during interrogations.

The capture of al-Qaida leaders Ramzi Binalshibh in Pakistan, Omar al Faruq in Indonesia, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in Kuwait and Muhammad al Darbi in Yemen were all partly the result of information gained during interrogation, they said. All four are now in CIA custody.

PTI