DHAKA: US President Donald Trump has said he believes waterboarding works, stating “we have to fight fire with fire”.

Trump said that while radical groups beheaded people in the Middle East “we are not playing on an even field”.

But Trump also said he would consult Defence Secretary James Mattis and CIA director Mike Pompeo and “if they do not want to do it that’s fine”.

Both have indicated opposition to reintroducing the interrogation method, widely considered a form of torture, reports the BBC.

Former CIA director Leon Panetta told the BBC it would be a “serious mistake to take a backward step” on torture.

It is an interrogation process that causes the subject to experience the sensation of drowning.

The subject is strapped to an angled board facing down and a cloth is placed over their mouth. Water is poured over the face, creating the feeling that the lungs are filling with water.

BDST: 1726 HRS, JAN 16, 2017
RY/BD