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Leg shackles used by the US on inmates at Guantanamo Bay

US President Barack Obama has disclosed the controversial CIA interrogation techniques of the Bush administration, including the threat of stinging insects, simulated drowning and depriving prisoners of sleep for up to 180 hours.

The US government released four memos written by the Justice Department in 2002 and 2005 to provide legal cover for methods that have been widely criticised as torture and which the new president has already disowned.