Guantanamo won't close before Bush leaves office

The Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorism suspects will not close under President George W. Bush but the next president and Congress should move swiftly to shut it down, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday.

Gates, who has advocated closing the controversial prison at a US naval base in Cuba since taking over at the Pentagon in late 2006, called Guantanamo "a real liability for the United States."

In comments to news agency reporters at the Pentagon, Gates said the Bush administration had concluded that closing Guantanamo would require legislation but there was little chance of getting it passed in a heated political climate with the presidential and congressional election on Nov 4.