White House Answers Judge's Finding of US Torture

In this file photo, Saudi national Mohammed al-Qahtani is seen behind the bars during the first...

In this file photo, Saudi national Mohammed al-Qahtani is seen behind the bars during the first hearing in their trial at a court in Sanaa. A Pentagon official acknowledged in an interview published Wednesday that the United States tortured al-Qahtani, a Saudi man who allegedly had hoped to become the "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 attacks.

(KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images)

The Bush administration maintained Wednesday that the U.S. does not torture prisoners despite a claim to the contrary from the military judge in charge of trying Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Susan. J. Crawford is the top Bush administration official overseeing the military trials of terrorist suspects held at the U.S. prison in Cuba. She told The Washington Post that the United States tortured a Saudi man in 2002. The legal implications of the treatment prevented her from bringing him to trial, Crawford said.

The case of Mohammed al-Qahtani, whom officials have claimed was to have been the "20th hijacker" on 9/11, illustrates the legal and logistical trouble ahead for President-elect Barack Obama, who plans to order the closure of the stigmatized prison his first week on the job.

"We tortured Qahtani," Crawford said, making her the first senior Bush administration official to say that aggressive interrogation techniques had crossed the line.

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"His treatment met the legal definition of torture, and that's why I did not refer the case" for prosecution, she said.

Al-Qahtani in October 2006 recanted a confession he said he made after he was tortured and humiliated at Guantanamo.

The alleged torture, which he detailed in a written statement, included being beaten, restrained for long periods in uncomfortable positions, threatened with dogs, exposed to loud music and freezing temperatures and stripped nude in front of female personnel.

Through a spokeswoman, Crawford declined a request for an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press.

Crawford was named to her job by Defense Secretary Robert Gates in February 2007.

White House press secretary Dana Perino defended the president's anti-terrorism policy, without directly addressing Crawford's assessment.

"Let me just make sure it's clear — and I'll say it on the record one more time — that it has never been the policy of this president or this administration to torture," Perino said.