Barack Obama has told US intelligence staff they have his full support after he was accused of undermining the CIA.

The US President spoke to CIA workers at the agency's headquarters in Langley, Virginia, after a 'closed door' meeting with intelligence chiefs.

Mr Obama admitted senior intelligence officers had criticised his decision to release top secret memos on interrogation techniques widely condemned as torture last week.

The documents showed that waterboarding, sleep deprivation, nudity and putting insects in with a tightly confined prisoner were all allowed under the Bush administration.

Mr Obama, who has forbidden the practices, has said he would not prosecute agents who used them and remained committed to hiding the identities of CIA agents.

But he made no apology for revealing the memos, saying much of the information in them was already in the public domain.

The President told CIA staff: "I have put an end to the interrogation techniques described in the memos and I want to be very clear and very blunt.

"I have done so for a simple reason: because I believe that this nation is stronger and more secure when we deploy the full measure of both our power and the power of our values, including the rule of law."

He added: "I understand that it is hard when you are asked to protect the American people against people who have no scruples and would willingly and gladly kill innocents.

"What makes the United States special and what makes you special is precisely the fact that we are willing to uphold our values and ideals even when it's hard, not just when it's easy.

"You have got a hard job, and so do I, and that's OK, because that's why we can take such extraordinary pride in being American."

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