He said those three detainees are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - one of the architects of the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington, Abu Zubaydah - who is believed to have been a top al-Qaida strategist, and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri - who is believed to have played a key role in the bombing of the USS Cole. All three are being held at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Hayden said waterboarding was used against the three detainees nearly five years ago because of circumstances at the time, including the belief that additional attacks against the United States were imminent. Hayden defended the CIA's use of extreme interrogation techniques as lawful, and urged lawmakers not to impose restrictions on such methods. Congress is considering legislation that would restrict the CIA to using only the interrogation techniques authorized by the U.S. Army's field manual, which does not include waterboarding.
Abu Zubaydah belongs to al-Qaida.