US president George W Bush said yesterday he wanted to close the US detention centre at Guantánamo Bay but warned that some inmates were "cold-blooded killers" and needed to be brought to justice. Jamie Smyth reports from Vienna
In response to an EU call for the camp to be closed, he said he would like to send the inmates home but warned they would "murder somebody if let out on the streets".
Mr Bush, speaking at an EU-US summit in Vienna, also stepped up the diplomatic pressure on Iran, warning that it was taking too long to respond to an offer of incentives to halt elements of its nuclear programme.
"It should not take the Iranians that long to analyse what is a reasonable deal. I said weeks, not months," said Mr Bush, who wants to cement a global alliance to isolate the Iranian leadership.
The summit focused on a wide range of topics such as energy, trade and foreign policy. But EU concerns over human rights abuses perpetrated by the US in its war against terrorism overshadowed the talks. Opposition to Guantánamo is growing within the EU following the suicide of three inmates last week.
"I understand their concerns," Mr Bush said. "I'd like to end Guantánamo. I'd like it to be over with." He said 200 detainees had been sent home, and that of the 460 remaining, most were from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Afghanistan.
The president acknowledged the differences that Europe and the US had over Iraq but stressed the need to work together to fight terrorism and spread democracy.
Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, who hosted the talks, welcomed Mr Bush's comments on the prospect of closing Guantánamo, and offered to help negotiate with countries that will have to take detainees back.