U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney spent part of his week trying to convince U.S. Republican senators to back an exemption for the CIA from a proposed ban on the torture of terror suspects.

An excerpt from the AP story on globeandmail.com:

Mr. Cheney told his audience the United States doesn't engage in torture, these participants added, even though he said the administration needed an exemption from any legislation banning "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment in case the president decided one was necessary to prevent a terrorist attack.

The vice-president made his comments at a regular weekly private meeting of Senate Republican senators, said several legislators who attended. Cheney often attends the meetings, a chance for the rank-and-file to discuss legislative strategy, but he rarely speaks.

In this case, the room was cleared of aides before the vice-president began his remarks, said by one senator to include a reference to classified material. The officials who disclosed the events spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the confidential nature of the discussion.

"The vice-president's office doesn't have any comment on a private meeting with members of the Senate," Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for Mr. Cheney, said Friday.

The vice-president drew support from at least one legislator, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, while Arizona Senator John McCain dissented, officials said.

Mr. McCain, who has said he was tortured while held as a prisoner during the Vietnam War, is the chief Senate sponsor of an anti-torture provision that has twice cleared the Senate and triggered veto threats from the White House.

Mr. Cheney's decision to speak at the meeting underscored both his role as White House point man on the contentious issue and the importance the administration attaches to it.