Guantanamo evidence is suspect, admits FBI

The value of intelligence obtained from Guantanamo Bay detainees has been cast into further doubt, with the release of new parts of a 2004 FBI memorandum that describe information extracted by coercive means as "suspect at best.

The value of intelligence obtained from Guantanamo Bay detainees has been cast into further doubt, with the release of new parts of a 2004 FBI memorandum that describe information extracted by coercive means as "suspect at best.

The memo was originally made public last year in response to a Freedom of Information request from the American Civil Liberties Union. But large parts were blacked out. They have now been released after pressure from senior Democratic senators, during confirmation hearings last month for Michael Chertoff, the new head of the Homeland Security Department.

Between 2001 and 2003, Mr Chertoff was the head of the criminal division at the Justice Department. Mr Chertoff insisted he was not involved in deciding interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay. But the memo shows that four of his senior aides held regular meetings with FBI officials, who criticised the methods as unproductive.

The latest disclosures will only increase pressure for the release of the 550 inmates still being held at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba. But that in turn raises the vexed issue of "rendition" under which the United States has been delivering terror suspects for interrogation in their country of origin. In places such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan the suspects face further imprisonment and torture.