The top legal adviser within the US state department, who counsels the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, on international law, has declined to rule out the use of the interrogation technique known as waterboarding even if it were applied by foreign intelligence services on US citizens. John Bellinger refused to denounce the technique, which has been condemned by human rights groups as a form of torture, during a debate on the Bush administration’s stance on international law held by Guardian America, the Guardian’s US website. He said he would not include or exclude any technique without first considering whether it violated the convention on torture.

The inability of a senior US official to rule out such an interrogation method even in the case of it being used against Americans underlines the legal knots in which the administration has tied itself. The dispute over alleged US involvement in torture has threatened to derail the confirmation of Michael Mukasey as President George Bush’s nominee for attorney general. Mr Mukasey, a retired federal judge, faces a confirmation vote from the Senate judiciary committee tomorrow and is facing opposition from Democratic members over his stance on waterboarding. In earlier hearings, Mr Mukasey said he found the method repugnant, but refused to declare it illegal. There has been speculation that he refrained from doing so out of fear that such a declaration would expose US interrogators, as well as their chain of command, possibly up to the level of the president, to possible criminal prosecution.

Waterboarding is a technique in which a prisoner is made to believe he is drowning by placing a cloth over his face and pouring water over it. The procedure is banned by the US military, but has been used in an unknown number of interrogations of terrorist suspects by the CIA. Reports have suggested the CIA outlawed the method last year, but the Bush administration has yet to confirm this.

Mr Bellinger made his remarks during a Guardian debate with Philippe Sands QC, professor of international law at University College London. Mr Sands asked whether he could imagine any circumstances in which waterboarding could be justified on an American national by a foreign intelligence service. “One would have to apply the facts to the law to determine whether any technique, whatever happened, would cause severe physical pain or suffering,” Mr Bellinger said.

When Mr Sands said he found Mr Bellinger’s inability to exclude waterboarding on Americans very curious, the US official replied: “Well, I’m not willing to include it or exclude it. Our justice department has concluded that we just don’t want to get involved in abstract discussions.”

Listen to the debate between John Bellinger and Philippe Sands on the Guardian America website «www.guardian.co.uk»

BAGHDAD: The Iraqi government is negotiating with American and European oil companies to manage the development of five new fields in northern and southern Iraq, according to an Oil Ministry official.

Iraq hopes to reach agreements that will help it increase crude oil production - now 2.3 million barrels a day - by 500,000 barrels a day, Asim Jihad, a spokesman for the ministry, said Wednesday.

The oil minister, Hussain al-Sharistani, was in Vienna for a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and did not respond to requests for an interview.

Iraq once had one of the regions strongest agricultural and industrial economies. But UN sanctions and years of war with Iran destroyed much of its economic base, leaving the nation heavily dependent on petrodollars.

Hobbled by armed conflict, mismanagement and neglect, Iraq produces less oil than Saudi Arabia (more than nine million barrels a day) or Iran (nearly nine million barrels a day), and far less than its potential capacity.

Jihad said Iraq hoped to produce six million barrels of crude a day by 2015.

He declined to identify the companies invited to bid on the technical service contracts because the deals had not been completed.

But in previous interviews, Iraqi officials have described meetings in February with executives from Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Total.

Jihad said Iraqi officials had chosen specific companies for their knowledge of Iraqs oil fields and their expertise in managing large development projects.

The negotiations are in their second round, he said, and would probably be completed by the end of this month.

“These companies can offer their management experience, oil field studies and consultation on technology,” he said. “And the Iraqis will execute. The Iraqis will provide the labor.”

Despite Iraqs enormous reserves - more than 100 billion barrels - global oil corporations have been reluctant to invest because of a lack of clarity among Iraqi politicians about how to develop the industry and how to share profits. The monumental scale of violence in Iraq has also deterred many investors.

“Companies have been hesitant to invest in Iraqs oil fields because of the security conditions,” Jihad said. “But these contracts are short term. These contracts are the best we can do under the current conditions.”

The Oil Ministry is studying more than 70 oil exploration bids, he added.

The Parliament has still not agreed on a law to determine how the countrys oil wealth will be divided. But a Kurdish official reached late Wednesday said that while he was not familiar with the details of the negotiations, he could not immediately see why the Kurdish government would oppose them.

The Kurds angered Sunni and Shiite leaders last fall when they signed oil exploration and development deals with international oil companies.

It’s been a tough winter for U.S. retailers with one big exception: Warehouse clubs are busy despite the slow traffic at nearly every other retailer, as new results from Costco Wholesale Corp. («www.businessweek.com») and BJ’s Wholesale Club («www.businessweek.com») showed Mar. 5.

Costco saw same-store sales jump another 7% in February, while its smaller rival BJ’s, which focuses on the northeastern U.S., saw same-store sales rise 5.9%.

BJ’s and Costco are among the first chains to report February sales, but don’t expect other retailers to report similar success. Wal-Mart is expected to post a 1.1% increase in same-store sales, but sales at almost every other major chain are expected to fall, according to analyst predictions compiled by Reuters Estimates.

Target («www.businessweek.com») should fall 0.3%, while analysts expect a 4.1% decline at Kohl’s («www.businessweek.com»), a 2.9% decline at the Gap («www.businessweek.com»), a 1.9% drop at J.C. Penney («www.businessweek.com») and a 3.0% decline at Macy’s («www.businessweek.com»), Reuters Estimates says.

“Consumers are feeling the heat on a number of fronts,” says Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics. The full force of a housing slowdown is kicking in. Higher inflation, including rising gas and food prices, is hurting, and many consumers are worried about their jobs as recession fears mount.

At BJ’s, Costco and their rival, Sam’s Club, which is owned by Wal-Mart, customers buy yearly memberships to get access to food and other goods, ranging from T-shirts to wide-screen televisions, priced at steep discounts.

Warehouse clubs “become more attractive [as] consumers become more price-sensitive,” says Georges Yared of Yared Investment Research.

The clubs can avoid some of the broader consumer slowdown by focusing on staples items like food and home supplies that consumers must buy even if they avoid spending on luxuries.

As Richard Galanti, Costco’s chief financial officer, put it to analysts Mar. 5, “People still have to eat.”

A certain amount of inflation can also help the discount warehouses, execs and analysts say. First, consumers seek out the clubs’ gas, often sold to members at discounted prices. Second, shoppers want to save gas by making fewer shopping trips but buying more with each visit. That makes the warehouse’s sales of bulk food attractive to shoppers, Perkins says.

“Where inflation is driving up prices, BJ’s helps consumers stay within their budget,” Herbert Zarkin, BJ’s chairman and chief executive, told analysts Mar. 5.

The strong sales have helped both chain’s bottom lines.

On Mar. 5, BJ’s posted earnings of 80 cents per share last quarter, up from 18 cents a year ago. While February same-store sales were up 5.9%, last quarter’s same-store sales rose 5.4% and total sales were up 1.9%. The chain operates 175 clubs in 16 eastern U.S. states.

“The recovery story is in full swing,” wrote UBS («www.businessweek.com») analyst Neil Currie. Standard & Poor’s equity analysts upgraded the stock from “hold” to “buy.” (S&P, like BusinessWeek, is a unit of the McGraw-Hill Companies.)

Costco’s earnings per share rose 12% from a year ago to 74 cents. That mostly meeting analyst and investor expectations, though some were worried by higher expenses and slightly narrower profit margins.

Costco shares fell 2.5% to 60.83 on Mar. 5. The stock is up 10% in the past year. BJ’s shares, up 15% in the past year, moved 6.7% higher on Mar. 5 to close at 35.52.

No one, including BJ’s and Costco executives, seem to think the chains are completely insulated from the broader economy or a deep consumer slowdown.

For example, says John Langston, an analyst at «investing.businessweek.com», higher gas prices helped Costco’s U.S.