Mr Mukasey declined, however, in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy on the eve of testimony before the panel, to say whether he considered waterboarding to be illegal. -- PHOTO: AP

Mr Mukasey declined, however, in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy on the eve of testimony before the panel, to say whether he considered waterboarding to be illegal. A US official confirmed last week that waterboarding was used in the past but had not been used for several years.

'The interrogation techniques currently authorised in the CIA program comply with the law,' Mr Mukasey wrote Mr Leahy. 'A limited set of methods is currently authorised for use in that program. ... Waterboarding is not, and may not be, used in the current program.'

Mr Leahy and other lawmakers repeatedly pressed Mr Mukasey in his confirmation hearings last year and after to say whether he considered waterboarding an illegal form of torture, which could open the door to prosecution of officials involved in CIA's interrogation program launched after Sept 11. Mukasey had said he would review the interrogation program.

But Mr Mukasey told Mr Leahy in the letter that since waterboarding was not now in use, he did not feel it appropriate to give an opinion.

'As a general matter, I do not believe that it is advisable to address difficult legal questions, about which responsible minds can and do differ, in the absence of concrete facts and circumstances,' he said. -- REUTERS