Bush says others delay Guantanamo prison closure

WASHINGTON, Aug 9 (Reuters) Reluctance by other countries to take custody of terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay is delaying Washington's ability to shut the widely criticised prison camp, US President George W Bush said today.

''I did say it should be a goal of the nation to shut down Guantanamo,'' Bush told reporters. ''I also made it clear that part of the delay was the reluctance of some nations to take back some of the people being held there.'' Washington has faced fierce criticism worldwide for the detention without charge of suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members at the Guantanamo prison on a US naval base in Cuba.

While members of the Bush administration have repeatedly said they would like to close the facility, they also say it is needed in the US-declared war on terrorism.

The United States holds 355 detainees at Guantanamo, which was set up to handle prisoners captured by the United States after the September 11 attacks in 2001. Of those, the Pentagon says 80 are eligible for release or transfer to another country.

Britain asked the United States on Tuesday to release five detainees from Guantanamo who were legal residents of Britain before their detention, although not British nationals.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the US government was still reviewing the request and no decision had been made.

The Pentagon also said the top 14 al Qaeda suspects at Guantanamo, including the accused mastermind of the September 11 attacks, have been formally classified as ''enemy combatants,'' a label that allows the US government to keep holding them.

The classification of the 14 was announced on Thursday, although Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England had made each detainee's status determination earlier.

The decisions follow hearings held at the prison from March through June to determine the status of the men, transferred last year to Guantanamo from secret CIA prisons.

The hearings, known as Combatant Status Review Tribunals, are administrative and not meant to determine guilt. But the government presents evidence against each detainee in those hearings and gives the detainee an opportunity to respond.

Charges have not been filed against any of the 14, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who during his status hearing took responsibility for 31 attacks or planned attacks, including the September 11 attacks.

The Pentagon also said on Thursday it transferred six detainees out of Guantanamo -- five to Afghanistan and one to Bahrain.

REUTERS AE MSJ RAI2256