WASHINGTON - The CIA, under court orders, Monday released a 2004 inspector generals report on abuses during interrogation of terror suspects that disclose threats to kill suspects children and rape their female relatives. Earlier, after reviewing the report, US Attorney-General Eric Holder asked a special counsel to conduct a preliminary review on whether a criminal investigation should be conducted of the allegations. The report said, There were few instances of deviations from approved procedures, but cited waterboarding as one of those deviations. Waterboarding involves pouring water on a detainees head to simulate drowning, sometimes with a cloth or clear plastic over the face. The report looked at allegations of abuse from Sept 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, to October 2003. The report said a US interrogator who was not trained used a gun and a power drill to frighten one terror suspect. The suspect was also told that his mother and family members could be brought in for interrogation. One detainee, believed to be Sept 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed, was told that if any other attacks were launched on the US, Were going to kill your children, according to media reports. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding 183 times, the inspector generals report said. The Bush Justice Department was aware of the waterboarding and found it well within the scope of legal authority granted the CIA. Other techniques involved putting pressure on the carotid artery until a detainee starts to pass out, then shaking him awake to repeat the procedure. Before the release of the document, CIA Director Leon Panetta told agency employees the inspector-generals report is an old story largely already public. Panetta sent a letter to employees Monday preparing them for the release. Fox News obtained a copy of the letter. Panetta stressed the CIA itself commissioned the inspector-generals review, and the agency also referred allegations of abuse to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution. The department obtained a conviction of a CIA contractor, he said, but in other cases chose not prosecute. The agency also provided Congress with an unedited copy of the report, he said. As director in 2009, my primary interest when it comes to a programme that no longer exists is to stand up for those officers who did what their country asked and who followed the legal guidance they were given, he said. That is the presidents position, too. The CIA ... sought and received multiple written assurances that its methods were lawful.