WASHINGTON—Attorney General Eric Holder ordered a full criminal investigation into the deaths of two prisoners interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency. But, substantially narrowing the scope of a Justice Department probe of the agency's activities following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Mr. Holder ruled out prosecution in about 100 other instances in which the CIA had contact or alleged contact with terror detainees.
The move announced Thursday was greeted with a measure of relief by the CIA and some Republican supporters in Congress after years of divisive debate about the agency's role. There are, however, critics on either side: Some feel that any investigation is unwarranted and would undermine U.S. intelligence efforts. Others, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, partly welcomed Mr. Holder's announcement but found the focus on only two deaths insufficient.
Mr. Holder said he accepted the recommendations of John Durham, a federal prosecutor from Connecticut, who since 2009 has been examining the treatment of CIA detainees. Two U.S. attorneys under President George W. Bush have previously reviewed the CIA detainee cases and declined to prosecute. Mr. Durham will continue to lead the investigation.
Mr. Holder's didn't name the prisoners whose deaths were being investigated. Justice Department prosecutors led by Mr. Durham have been using a grand jury in Alexandria, Va., to investigate the death of Gul Rahman at a CIA prison called the Salt Pit in Afghanistan in 2002, and the death of Manadel al Jamadi at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in 2003, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Criminal investigations of CIA activities are rare. The last major investigation of CIA officials related to the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s. A CIA contractor in 2006 was convicted of beating an Afghan detainee, Abdul Wali, who died at a U.S. base in Afghanistan in 2003. The contractor is serving six years in prison.
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Source: Wall Street Journal
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