'Waterboarding' saved British lives: George W Bush

LONDON: Former US President George W Bush has vigorously defended "waterboarding" of terror suspects by the CIA, claiming the interrogation technique, which simulates drowning, saved several British lives by preventing attacks on Heathrow airport and Canary Wharf, the business hub of London.

In an interview with 'The Times', publicising his new book 'Decision Points', 64-year-old Bush has said that British lives were saved by use of information obtained from terror suspects by the "enhanced interrogation technique", regarded as "torture" by many opponents.

"Three people were waterboarded and I believe that decision saved lives," he told the newspaper.

When asked, Bush has also confirmed that he had authorised the use of "waterboarding" to extract information from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the Al-Qaeda mastermind behind the 9/11 attack.

"Damn right! We capture the guy, the chief operating officer of al-Qaeda, who kills 3,000 people. We felt he had the information about another attack. He says: 'I'll talk to you when I get my lawyer'. I say, 'what options are available and legal?'" the former US President said.

In his book, Bush writes: "Their interrogations helped break up plots to attack American diplomatic facilities abroad, Heathrow airport and Canary Wharf in London, and multiple targets in the United States." He says that although the procedure was "tough", it was legal.

The British government has long viewed waterboarding as torture. Last month Sir John Sawers, the head of spy agency MI6, said in a speech that Britain had "nothing whatsoever" to do with torture.