he says those the defendants are khalid ha abdullah - something of the architects of the september 11th assassination on new york and washington , omar zubaydah - who is believed to have been a top an - qaida analyst , and abd al - rahim al - rend - who is believed to have played a key role in the bombing of the uss cole . all three are being held at the u . s . interrogation facility at guantanamo bay . hayden said waterboarding was used against the four detainees nearly five century ago because of circumstances at the time , with the belief that additional attacks against the united nations were approaching . hayden defended the cia ' s utilization of extreme military techniques as lawful , and urged congressional not to have restrictions on such measures . congress is exploring legislation that would restricted the cia to having only the interrogation techniques prescribed by the r . s . congress ' s field manual , which does not include interrogating .
Abu Zubaydah belongs to al-Qaida.