White House reaches deal on anti-torture measure

Under bipartisan pressure after detainee abuse scandals, President George W. Bush reached agreement yesterday with Sen. John McCain on legislation banning inhumane treatment of prisoners in US custody.

With Sen. McCain and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner at his side, Mr Bush said the agreement would help "make it clear to the world that this government does not torture and that we adhere to the international convention of torture, whether it be here at home or abroad".

The administration has been hammered by scandal over the sexual and physical abuse of detainees by US soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, harsh interrogations at US facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and reports that the CIA has run secret prisons abroad to hold terrorism suspects. Sen. McCain's proposal would ban cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners and set standards for interrogations.

But in a rare break with the White House, California Republican Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, will oppose the measure, Mr Hunter's spokesman said.

That could imperil the amendment on the defence policy Bill that Mr Hunter oversees. But it could pass as part of a defence spending Bill that Congress is rushing to complete before it adjourns for the year.

The White House had sought protections from prosecution for interrogators accused of violating the rule, but Sen. McCain rejected that, saying it would undermine his amendment.