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Obama says waterboarding was torture
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-30 19:47

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said Wednesday night that waterboarding authorized by former President George W. Bush was torture and that the information it gained from terror suspects could have been obtained by other means.

"In some cases, it may be harder," he conceded at a White House news conference capping a whirlwind first 100 days in office. 

Obama says waterboarding was torture
US President Barack Obama speaks during his 100-day anniversary news conference in the White House East Room in Washington April 29, 2009. [Agencies]

Obama also expressed much greater optimism now than a month ago that Chrysler could remain a "going concern," possibly without filing for bankruptcy or with a "very quick" one.

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Obama did not say so, but Italian automaker Fiat Group SpA is expected to sign a partnership agreement with Chrysler LLC by Thursday as part of negotiations to keep the struggling US automaker alive without bankruptcy protection.

The president gave assurance that one way or another Pakistan's nuclear arsenal would not fall into the hands of Islamic extremists. He said he was confident "primarily, initially" because he believes Pakistan will handle the issue on its own. But he left the door open to eventual US action to secure the weapons if need be.

The prime-time news conference was the third of Obama's presidency and the first not dominated by a recession that has thrown millions of Americans out of work.

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