Washington: President George W Bush today said he will reserve judgment about his administration's destruction of CIA interrogation tapes until several inquiries are finished. The destruction of the tapes, showing harsh interrogation treatment of two terrorism suspects, in 2005 is being investigated by the Justice Department, the CIA itself and by several congressional panels.

Bush stuck to the White House line that he personally did not know about either the existence of the tapes or their destruction until he was briefed earlier this month by CIA Director Michael Hayden.

"Sounds pretty clear to me when I say I have - the first recollection is when Mike Hayden briefed me. That's pretty clear." He also said that he believed the investigations by his administration "coupled with oversight provided by the Congress, will end up enabling us all to find out what has happened."

"Until these inquries are complete, I will be rendering no opinion from the podium," Bush said. Under a subpoena threat, the CIA is expected to quickly begin turning over to Congress documents related to the destruction of videotapes showing the harsh interrogation of two terror suspects.

The agency could begin producing the material as early as today, according to senior intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of ongoing investigations into the destruction of the tapes in 2005.

Source : PTI