Amnesty challenge Obama to name date for Guantanamo closure

London (ANTARA News) - Amnesty International called Friday on US president-elect Barack Obama to announce a date for the closure of Guantanamo Bay, as the US-run prison in Cuba approaches its seventh anniversary.

The rights group called on Obama to name a date as soon as he is sworn in on January 20.

"We are not asking the impossible. Barack Obama has already stated his determination to undo some of the wrongs authorised by the US government in the name of national security and we are asking him to turn this commitment into a reality," said Amnesty`s Secretary General Irene Khan.

"The closure of Guantanamo would mark the beginning of a clean break from past detention policies, but only if it is done in a way that fully meets the USA`s international obligations," Khan was quoted by AFP as saying.

"The devil will now be in the detail: there must be no re-creation of Guantanamo by any other name in any other place."

Obama has stated his intention to shut Guantanamo and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered aides last month to draw up plans for closing the facility.

The prison was opened in January 2002 to hold alleged "enemy combatants" captured by US and allied forces around the world during the so-called "war on terror."

Amnesty also announced it was organising demonstrations this weekend to mark the seventh anniversary, with events in Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Spain and Turkey.

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