Pat Dollard | Young Americans

WASHINGTON — A Justice Department audit of terror interrogations at three military bases overseas concluded Tuesday that FBI agents refused to participate when detainees were questioned under harsh and potentially illegal methods.

The FBI clashed with the Pentagon and the CIA over how at least two top al-Qaida operatives were interviewed, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine found during a three-year investigation.

In part, that led to an August 2002 order by FBI Director Robert Mueller for agents to withdraw from interrogations during which coercive or extreme methods were used to get information from detainees, the audit concluded.

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“The FBI agents observed the CIA use classified techniques that undoubtedly would not be permitted under FBI interview policies,” according to a summary of the nearly 400-page audit.

Additionally, FBI agents raised concerns about military interrogators at the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who allegedly used snarling dogs to scare al-Qaida operative Muhammad al-Qahtani and kept him awake for daily and continuous 20-hour interviews. The rift between the FBI and Pentagon over those interrogations was reported to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, but senior Justice Department officials later told investigators that “they did not recall that any changes were made at GTMO as a result.”

GTMO stands for Guantanamo Bay.

Overall, the audit gives the FBI fairly high marks for its conduct in the sensitive area on terror interrogations, which have become a political and global flashpoint over whether the Bush administration knowingly allowed the use of tactics widely defined as illegal forms of torture.

The audit found that FBI agents “avoided participating in the aggressive or questionable interrogation techniques that the military employed,” and it found no evidence that the agents abused terror detainees. In a few cases, FBI agents didn’t always report abusive interviews or leave when they were ongoing, but auditors blamed that mostly on unclear guidance from FBI headquarters on how to confront military interrogators who were working under a different set of rules.

“While our report concluded that the FBI could have provided clearer guidance earlier, and while the FBI and DOJ could have pressed harder for resolution of FBI concerns about detainee treatment, we believe the FBI should be credited for its conduct and professionalism in detainee interrogations in the military zones and in generally avoiding participation in detainee abuse,” the audit concluded.

In a statement, Mueller said his agents will continue to be trained and fully aware of FBI policy against participating in coercive interrogations.

“These individuals perform a vital function in dangerous environments in order to fulfill the FBI’s post-9/11 mission to develop intelligence and prevent terrorist attacks,” Mueller said.

(AP)