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Bush rejects Germany's request to close prison

WASHINGTON - President Bush rejected a suggestion by Germany's new leader that the United States close its prison at Guantanamo Bay, saying after a first meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday that the facility is "a necessary part of protecting the American people."

Guantanamo has become a hot-button issue for many in Europe. At least one German is among about 500 foreign-born men held indefinitely at the prison camp on Cuba's eastern tip.

"So long as the war on terror goes on, and so long as there's a threat, we will inevitably need to hold people that would do ourselves harm," Bush said after a meeting with Merkel.

The detainees are suspected of being Taliban or al-Qaida operatives or soldiers. Lawyers and activist groups say many of them are not violent.

The two leaders seemed determined to get off to a good start after chilly relations between Washington and Berlin under Merkel's predecessor, the Iraq war opponent Gerhard Schroeder. Their discussions also included Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans.

Bush praised Merkel as smart, spirited and capable.

Merkel and Bush described their 45-minute meeting as candid. "We also openly addressed that there sometimes have been differences of opinion," Merkel told reporters. "I mentioned Guantanamo in this respect."

Merkel said last week that while she thinks the prison should not remain open indefinitely, she did not plan to demand its closure when she met with Bush.

"We addressed this issue openly," Merkel said. "And I think it's, after all, only one facet in our overall fight against terrorism."

The Guantanamo prison opened four years ago, after a U.S.-led force ousted the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and scattered an extensive al-Qaida terror network in the country.

Bush challenged reporters to tour the base and see for themselves "how the folks that are being detained there are treated."

[Last modified January 14, 2006, 01:39:15]