Eliza Manningham-Buller, who has retired from the service in 2007 and now a House of Lords’ member, stressed that the US intentionally restrained details regarding its unkind treatment of detainees, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The spy agencies of Britain have been under intense censure for their suspected conspiracy in the torture of suspected terrorists overseas, including those under the custody of the US.

In a current court ruling, one of the country’s senior judge probed MI5’s record regarding human rights, and said that the organisation might have misinformed the courts and the Parliament regarding the extent of the agency’s knowledge on the maltreatment of detainees.

The ex-spy head has criticised how the US became successful in providing her country with intelligence gathered from Sheikh Mohammed.

“I said to my staff, ‘Why is he talking?’ because our experience of Irish prisoners, Irish terrorists, was that they never said anything”, she said. “They said, well, the Americans say he is very proud of his achievements when questioned about it. It wasn’t actually until after I retired that I read that, in fact, he had been water boarded 160 times”.

In February, Master of the Rolls David Neuberger noted that the agency’s position in a court case wherein it stressed that it was not aware of the maltreatment of a number of detainees under the CIA’s custody was untrustworthy.

Manningham-Buller affirmed on Tuesday that her country knew about the cases of maltreatment before she vacated her post. On the other hand, Jonathan Evans, her successor, rebuffed the claims, stressing that the courts are in danger of being used by those who desire to undermine Britain’s counter-terrorism work.

Obama’s administration has been criticised, mostly by Republicans, for a pronouncement made by the Justice Department to hear Mohammad’s case in a court located near Ground Zero.

The President defended his administration’s decision by saying that the Bush administration had handled suspected terrorists in a similar manner.

“They prosecuted 190 folks in these Article III courts, got convictions and those folks are in maximum security prisons right now. And there have been no escapes,” said Obama.

Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York reacted to Obama’s decision. He mentioned that based on logistics, cost and security concerns that were brought up by the city mayor and the police commissioner, the plan of holding the trials in New York is impractical.

In an interview, Obama also mentioned that passing the health care bill is still vital to reducing the country’s budget deficit. He added that he has plans to gather both political parties to an assembly this month so that congressional leaders could meticulously discuss the issue.

Obama once again tries to appeal to the Republicans despite their undivided opposition to the health care reform issue.

In addition, he said that the special concessions given to Democratic Senators Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana in exchange for their votes on health care were not helpful.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and David Axelrod, US President Barack Obama’s senior adviser, said the president supports having the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other accomplices held at a criminal court and not before a military commission. But the president and the Justice Department are still discussing whether to move the trial away from New York.

Gibbs, who spoke on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’, said a location has not yet been finalised but emphasised that Mohammed, the 9/11 mastermind, “is going to meet justice and he’s going to meet his maker”.

The cost for the possible multi-year trial is estimated at $200 million with 2,000 checkpoints to be deployed around Lower Manhattan. Ray Kelly, the police commissioner, said additional protection is necessary throughout the city.

Bloomberg initially approved of having the trial in the city but opted for a different location in a statement made last week. The Mayor emphasised: “It’s going to cost an awful lot of money and disturb a lot of people”.

Julie Menin, the chairwoman of a community advisory agency in the city, has suggested four alternative areas for the trial: the Bureau of Prisons jail complex at FCI Otisville, the Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, Governors Island, and the US Military Academy at West Point.