The head of National Intelligence in the United States has said he would regard the interrogation method of water-boarding as torture if he were subjected to it himself.
The technique involves strapping a prisoner down, wrapping a cloth over his face and then dripping water on to it so he cannot breathe.
Vice Admiral Mike McConnell told the New Yorker it would also be torture if water-boarding resulted in water entering the prisoner's lungs.
The subject has come to prominence in the United States because of the CIA's destruction of videotapes showing the questioning of terrorist suspects.
It is claimed that harsh interrogation methods were used, possibly including water-boarding.
The US attorney general has declined to rule on whether the method is torture.
