Enhanced Interrogations Led to Bin Laden Kill: Senator

A member of the US Senate Intelligence Committee has told CNBC that the death of Osama Bin Laden was a direct result of enhanced interrogations.

Farooq Naeem | AFP | Getty Images The hideout of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

“The information that eventually led us to this compound was the direct result of enhanced interrogations; one can conclude if we had not used enhanced interrogations, we would not have come to yesterday's action,” US Senator Richard Burr in a telephone interview with CNBC.

As a member of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, Burr was briefed on the attack on the compound that led to Bin Laden’s death and believes the failure of Pakistani security forces to find the al-Qaeda leader sooner will be a strain on US relations.

“It's common knowledge that the US-Pakistan relationship was strained prior to this action, there will be continual talks about what ISI (Pakistani security forces) did or didn't know,” he said.

The death of Bin Laden will, however, improve the US position in Afghanistan where the US and NATO forces are locked in a war of attrition with the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces.

“Yesterday's action sends a loud message, we can find you and we can kill you...even though we had a victory…, the war on terror continues,” Burr said.