Powell Calls For Closing Guantanamo Prison

Sunday, June 10th 2007, 6:43 pm

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo should be closed immediately and the detainees moved to facilities in the U.S. and into the federal legal system.

Powell told N-B-C's "Meet the Press" that the U.S. should do away with the military commission system. He favors procedures already established in federal law or the manual for courts-martial.

The retired general says the prison, which now holds about 380 suspected terrorists, has tarnished the world's perception of the U.S.

Powell said if it were up to him he'd close Guantanamo "not tomorrow, but this afternoon."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said Congress and the Bush administration should work together to allow imprisonment of some of the more dangerous detainees elsewhere so the military camp in Cuba can be closed.