Detainee says he lied to CIA in harsh interrogations

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, told the U.S. military that he made up stories, documents show. The news could intensify the debate over interrogations.

By Julian E. Barnes and Greg Miller
LA Times
5:43 PM PDT, June 15, 2009

Reporting from Washington — Accused Sept. 11 organizer Khalid Shaikh Mohammed told U.S. military officials that he gave false information to the CIA even after undergoing punishing bouts of interrogation, according to documents made public Monday.

His claim will probably intensify the debate over the George W. Bush administration's use of harsh techniques to gain information from terrorism suspects.

Mohammed made the assertion during hearings held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the militant leader was transferred in 2006 after being held at secret CIA sites since his capture in 2003.

"I make up stories," Mohammed said, describing in broken English an interrogation probably administered by the CIA that concerned the location of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

(More here.)