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WASHINGTON — CIA took top Al-Qaeda suspects close “to the point of death” by drowning them in water-filled baths during interrogation sessions in the years that followed the September 11 attacks, a security source has told The Daily Telegraph.

The description of the torture meted out to at least two leading Al-Qaeda suspects, including the alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, far exceeds the conventional understanding of waterboarding, or “simulated drowning” so far admitted by the CIA.

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“They weren’t just pouring water over their heads or over a cloth,” said the source who has first-hand knowledge of the period. “They were holding them under water until the point of death, with a doctor present to make sure they did not go too far. This was real torture.”

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The account of extreme CIA interrogation comes as the U.S. Senate prepares to publish a declassified version of its so-called Torture Report – a 3,600-page document based on a review of several million classified CIA documents.