about the only ones left who want to defend the justness and practical value of the abhorrent practices introduced at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and then exported to Abu Ghraib. Ninety senators voted for the new law, including 46 Republicans - even Bill Frist, the majority leader, who yanked the measure from the floor last summer.

More than two dozen retired senior military officers endorsed it, including two former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, John Shalikashvili and Colin Powell. Generals know that turning American servicemen and servicewomen into torturers endangers Americans captured on the battlefield. Senator John McCain, the primary sponsor of the legislation, was among the Americans tortured by North Vietnamese jailers. He said that "Every one of us - every single one of us - knewSabahat Ahmed, a resident of the apartment, told Reuters.

"By the time the second tremor hit, the building had already started to collapse," he said. "As the building was collapsing people were still coming out from it. I heard and saw various people in a state of panic and many stuck under the collapsed building."

Qaiser Abbas, a receptionist in the building, told The Associated Press that he was sitting in his office when the building suddenly began to shake.

"After five seconds, I heard big sound, and then about 40 apartments collapsed," he said.

Elsewhere, Danny Kemp, deputy Islamabad bureau chief for Agence France-Presse, told CNN that he saw light poles shaking in the city during the quake.

"I've never felt anything like it," he said. "My wife and I grabbed our