A Senate committee on Tuesday approved US President George W Bush's nominee for US attorney general, easing fears that Michael Mukasey's approval could be stalled on concerns he had not taken a strong enough stance on interrogation methods opponents have dubbed torture.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Mukasey 11-8, sending the nomination on to the full Senate for a final vote, where he was expected to be confirmed.
Mukasey's nomination was initially welcomed by both Republicans and Democrats after the resignation of controversial attorney general Alberto Gonzales. But he later came under fire from Democrats over his refusal to say an interrogation technique known as waterboarding that stimulates drowning was torture, drawing speculation his nomination could be delayed or shot down.
If confirmed, Mukasey would replace Gonzales, a Bush confidant who quit in September after months of controversies including political motives in the firing of nine US attorneys, the veracity of Gonzeles' testimony to Congress and his work on torture policies as a White House lawyer before becoming attorney general. Gonzales played a key role as a White House lawyer in drafting policy for aggressive interrogations that critics call torture.
Mukasey, 66, presided as a federal judge in New York over several cases with national security implications, including the 1995 trial of 10 defendants in a plot to blow up New York landmarks. The so- called blind sheik, Omar Abdel Rahman, a native Egyptian preacher and Islamic militant icon, was among those found guilty by the jury. He was sentenced by Mukasey to life in prison.
Mukasey also issued the first court ruling in a challenge of Bush's holding of illegal combatants after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Mukasey ruled that Jose Padilla, a US citizen, could be detained indefinitely without charge, but also granted him the right to speak with a lawyer.
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