President Bush Denies Reports Of Guantanamo Closing Decision

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - There is no immediate decision about the closure of the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, President George Bush told a television network on Thursday.

"We're analyzing the decision and how to move forward, and there's no decision that is imminent on Guantanamo," the President told Fox News. "But nevertheless, we have an obligation to live under the law, so we are fully analyzing the impact of the law... We'll get it done as quickly as possible."

ABC News had reported earlier this week that President Bush was planning to announce his decision about whether to shut down Guantanamo Bay before leaving for th G8 summit in Japan over the weekend.

The prison camp in the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo was opened in 2002. It currently has about 300 detainees. The White House has been trying to look for ways close it down amid continued controversy about the Pentagon's use of harsh interrogation methods on prisoners.

Defense Sec. Robert Gates told the Senate Appropriations Committee in May that the Bush administration has been unable to shut down the prison camp because there was nowhere to put detainees who cannot be charged nor released for security reasons.

Last year, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked for assistance from countries with nationals in the prison camp to guarantee that detainees would not "be a danger to society again"once released.