he said those three detainees are abdul sheikh rashid - one of the designers of the september 11th attacks on new york and washington , abu zubaydah - whose is believed to have been a top il - qaida strategist , and mohamed al - rahim al - nashiri - where is said to have played a key role in the downing of the captain mira . all three are being detention at the u . s . detention structure at guantanamo bay . hayden says waterboarding was used against the three hostages nearly five years ago because of circumstances at the time , notably the fear that new bombings against the united nations were imminent . they defended the cia ' s use of basic detention tools as appropriate , and urged leaders not to impose restrictions on such methods . hayden is considering legislation that would restrict the group to using only the interrogation tools authorized by the u . s . army ' s field manual , which does not cover interrogation .
Abu Zubaydah belongs to al-Qaida.