he said those these detainees are khalid emir mohammed - some of the architects of the september 11th assaults on new york and cuba , ahmed zubaydah - who is thought to have been a top al - qaida strategist , and abd al - rahim al - zahrani - who is believed to have played a key figure in the bombing of the uss cole . all three are being holds at the u . s . holding facility at tampa bay . hayden said waterboarding was used against the three detainees nearly five summers ago because of conditions at the camp , including the view that ongoing attacks against the united states were imminent . hayden condemned the cia ' s use of extreme investigative techniques as lawful , and advised parliament not to include limitations on such means . congress is considering legislation that further restrict the us to using only the interrogation techniques authorized by the u . s . government ' s field book , which does not including interrogators .
Abu Zubaydah belongs to al-Qaida.