07 January 2005	Friday	25 Ziqa'ad 1425

WASHINGTON, Jan 6: President George Bush's nominee for attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, faced blistering criticism at a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday for his role in formulating policies that led to the torture of terror suspects.

The critics, mainly from the Democratic Party, forced Mr Gonzales to promise that he would follow all international treaties protecting prisoners' rights if confirmed as America's top law enforcer.

As White House counsel during President Bush's first term, Mr Gonzales was at the center of discussions on the applicability of the Geneva Conventions to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and on the legality of interrogation methods that many see as tantamount to torture.

In a 2002 White House memo, Mr Gonzales argued that the "new paradigm of the war on terror renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questions of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions".

But as the Senate Judiciary Committee began his confirmation hearing on Thursday, Mr Gonzales completely changed his position. "Contrary to reports, I consider the Geneva Conventions neither obsolete, nor quaint," he declared.

This change of position, however, did not impress Sen Patrick Leahy, the committee's ranking Democrat. "America's troops and citizens are at greater risk because of those actions," he told Mr Gonzales.

As the hearing began, the Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York City-based legal group that represents some detainees who say they were tortured by US personnel, urged the Senate to reject Mr. Gonzales.

The group says that the policies Mr Gonzales helped devise led to abuses of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and other US-run installations.

Senator Leahy agreed: "The searing photographs from Abu Ghraib have made it harder to create and maintain the alliances we need to prevail. Those abuses serve as recruiting posters for the terrorists."

Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, said "the issue of Mr. Gonzales's commitment to the rule of law is what most concerns us." But the same legal advises that earned Mr. Gonzales the wrath of liberal forces, apparently endeared him to his boss and the ruling Republican Party.

When the outgoing Attorney General John Ashcroft declined to serve a second term, Mr. Bush nominated Mr. Gonzales for the top job. At the hearing, Republican Senators, who have a majority in both houses of the US legislature, strongly defended Mr. Gonzales.

Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, introduced Mr. Gonzales at the hearing, saying, "Now, I hate to ruin a good story for the president's political opponents. But there is one important problem with this criticism: Judge Gonzales is right, "the Geneva Conventions do not apply to Al Qaeda."

Addressing Mr. Gonzales's critics, he said: "Is there anyone here today who would fail to use every legal means to collect intelligence from terrorists that can save American lives? I certainly hope not."

In his opening statement, Mr. Gonzales said the United States faced crucial decisions after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on how to apply treaties and US law in a war on terrorism.

He said President Bush has made clear he would defend the country "always in a manner consistent with our nation's values and applicable law, including our treaty obligations."

The Justice Department last week released a new memo stepping back from a much-criticized 2002 document that said only the most severe types of torture were not permissible under US law and international agreements.

Mr. Gonzales, 49, a former Texas Supreme Court Justice will be the first Hispanic-American to hold the job of the attorney general if confirmed. And even his opponents acknowledge that in a Republican-dominated Senate, they do not expect to defeat Mr. Gonzales.