CIA interrogators waterboarded al-Qaeda's Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 183 times and another terror suspect, Abu Zubaydah, 83 times, according to reports.
Citing a 2005 Justice Department legal memorandum, the New York Times said the agency used the simulated drowning technique on the two al-Qaeda operatives far more than had been previously reported.
The report recalls that in 2007, former CIA officer John Kiriakou told media organizations that Abu Zubaydah had undergone waterboarding for only 35 seconds before agreeing to tell everything he knew.
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Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, was captured in Pakistan in March 2003. Zubaydah was caught in 2002.
Last year, Mohammed was charged with war crimes and murder by a US military commission and faces the death penalty if convicted.
