Obama intent on shutting Guantanamo

US President-elect Barack Obama has said he intends to shut down the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay when he assumes office in January.

• In his first broadcast interview since being elected, Mr Obama said that closing the camp in Cuba would be part of efforts 'to rebuild America's moral stature in the world'.
• He also said he would pull troops out of Iraq and fight al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
• The Democrat, who takes office on 20 January, told a CBS programme: 'I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture. And I'm going to make sure that we don't torture.
• Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the world,' he added.
• The Pentagon says there are now about 250 detainees at Guantanamo.
• Well informed sources in Washington say that the president-elect's transition team has already asked the Pentagon what it would take to move the prisoners at Guantanamo to the Navy base at Charleston, S.C.