WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House's top terrorism adviser says a newly formed high-value detainee interrogation group, known as the HIG, was used to question Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad, as well as other suspects in the U.S. and abroad, over the past few months.

John Brennan, President Barack Obama's homeland security counterterrorism adviser, confirmed the move in a speech Tuesday night.

Senior administration officials say the elite team of investigators - from the FBI, CIA and Defense Department - is designed to question terror suspects just after arrest, to head off future terror attacks.

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