WASHINGTON (AFP) -– Jordan's King Abdullah II, a key U.S. ally, said in an interview that there was enough evidence that the United States had engaged in torture using interrogation techniques shunned by the Obama administration.

“What I see in the press ... shows that there were illegal ways of dealing with detainees,” Abdullah told NBC in an interview broadcast Sunday on “Meet the Press.”
Asked if the United States has engaged in torture, the king said there were “enough accounts to show that that is the case.”
Abdullah spoke after holding talks with President Barack Obama on Tuesday, making him the first Arab head of state to meet with the new U.S. president at the White House.
The Obama administration released four sensitive memos last week that blew the lid on harsh CIA terror interrogations approved under president George W. Bush, including the use of insects, simulated drowning and sleep deprivation.
Obama has said that CIA officers involved in interrogations should not be prosecuted as they were acting on orders. But he has left the door open to possible prosecution of senior figures in the previous administration.
“There is still a major battle out there,” said Abdullah, adding that he thought Obama was trying to improve the American legal system.
Rights groups and some fellow Democrats have pressed Obama to go after top officials in the Bush administration for their role in the abuse and torture of detainees.
The talks between Obama and Abdullah focused on the stalled Middle East peace process.
Obama has invited Netanyahu as well as Palestinian and Egyptian leaders to Washington next month and called for “good faith” gestures from all sides, including Israel, as he has signaled he plans to make the peace process a priority.