Washington: US president-elect Barack Obama pleaded for time to close down the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, but was categorical that his administration will shutter the facility and "not torture" terror suspects.

Asked if he would manage to close the fiercely controversial product of the "war on terror" within his first 100 days as president, Obama said, "That s a challenge.

"It is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize," he said in an interview aired today on ABC s "This Week" program, adding his legal and national security advisers were crafting solutions.

But Obama, who takes office on January 20,added emphatically that the prison on a US naval base in Cuba would be closed and its 250 remaining internees dealt with constitutionally.

"I don t want to be ambiguous about this. We are going to close Guantanamo and we are going to make sure that the procedures we set up are ones that abide by our constitution," he said.

"That is not only the right thing to do, but it actually has to be part of our broader national security strategy because we will send a message to the world that we are serious about our values."

Obama also said he was not ruling out possible prosecution for abuses of civil liberties committed under President George W Bush s administration, but indicated that he preferred to look forward.
Source : PTI