The U.S. State Department beefed up its security at some of its embassies ahead of the long-awaited public release of the Senate's report on the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)'s use of torture in its interrogations.

The heightened security stems from concerns that the content of the report could trigger protests in places where the agency operated secret interrogation prisons, according to unnamed U.S. officials. One of those officials said the Obama administration feared the CIA report could spark a "tinder box" in the Middle East and reduce the cooperation of international security agencies with their American counterparts, Reuters explained.

Like Us on Facebook

Some politicians and human rights activists in the U.S. branded simulated drowning and other harsh interrogation methods as "torture." Former President George W. Bush authorized such techniques.

Extensive media reports and unclassified files say the CIA secretly detained prisoners under the now-defunct program known as Rendition/Detention/Interrogation. The sites of the secrets prisons include Poland, Romania, Afghanistan, Thailand and the U.S. army base at Cuba and Guantanamo Bay.

News reports revealed the countries involved in the interrogation program several years ago, but the U.S. fears the release of the Senate's report could reignite anger especially in Muslim countries. The Bush administration implemented the said program as part of its "war on terror."

In preparation for the release of a declassified version of the report, he Obama administration redacted most of the references to the former sites of secret CIA detention facilities from the original documents. This was done because the revelation of even the pseudonyms of the locations would give public readers too many clues to the secret prison sites, according to another official.

On Tuesday, panel chair Senator Dianne Feinstein complained that the redactions obscure the important facts that lead to the conclusions of the report. She said she would send President Barack Obama a new proposal containing only the necessary redactions.

Officials said the 600-page report will unlikely be released this week and that it will remain confidential for an indefinite period of time. The actual release of the Senate committee's declassified version of the report is yet to be confirmed.

TagsU.S. State Department, Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, Obama, U.S., George W. Bush, Poland, Romania, Afghanistan, Thailand, Cuba, Guantanamo Bay, Senate, Muslim, Dianne Feinstein, Barack Obama