he said those three detainees are ahmed sheikh ahmad - one of the perpetrators of the november 11th attacks on new yorker and washington , abdullah zawahri - who is considered to have been a top al - al-qaeda strategist , and abd al - rahim abdul - sajr - who is believed to have commanded a significant role in the bomb of the uss cole . all three are being interned at the u . s . detention facility at turtle bay . hayden said waterboarding was placed against the six inmates nearly five years ago because of situation at the time , including the belief that additional attempts against the american republic were coming . hayden defended the pentagon ' s uses of such interrogation techniques as lawful , and urge legislators not to impose limitation on such methods . government is discussing law that would restriction the agency to using only the interrogation techniques authorized by the n . s . cia ' s field manual , which does not include simulates .
Abu Zubaydah belongs to al-Qaida.