In the past, it has taken long sessions to extract information from senior Qaeda prisoners, and some have refused to talk, according to intelligence officials.

Military officials and lawyers have estimated that charges against the Qaeda prisoners are not likely to be brought before the end of January.

Some elements of the New Yorker article have been previously reported, including the special interrogation program for Qaeda prisoners captured in Afghanistan.

The case against Mr. Moussaoui, a French citizen, has been delayed repeatedly because of wrangling over the lack of access to testimony from captured Qaeda prisoners.

The memo, which leaked out in the news media earlier this month, appeared to offer a legal rationale for harsh treatment of Qaeda prisoners, setting a high bar for what constituted torture.

Like the more numerous detainees at Guantánamo Bay, the high-level Qaeda prisoners have also been defined as unlawful combatants, not as prisoners of war.

They said he was not allowed access to other Qaeda prisoners.

So far as we know, American intelligence officers, determined after Sept. 11 to "take the gloves off," began by torturing Qaeda prisoners.

The order began by noting that "our recent extensive discussions" had shown that deciding how Geneva rules would apply to Qaeda prisoners "involves complex legal questions."

This truce was actually a retreat by Pakistan, which even released Qaeda prisoners in its custody.