I'll close down Guantanamo in two years, says Obama

BARACK Obama has said he plans to close the Guantanamo Bay detention centre and mark a "clear end" to torture in the US within two years of becoming president.

The president-elect told Time magazine he hopes to restore the balance between US security needs and the country's constitution.

In an interview with Time magazine, Mr Obama listed a series of benchmarks his team had set during his presidential campaign. Asked how voters would know whether his administration was succeeding in two years, he said: "On foreign policy, have we closed down Guantanamo in a responsible way, put a clear end to torture and restored a balance between the demands of our security and our constitution?"

Mr Obama was named the magazine's Person of the Year for what Time called "the confidence to sketch an ambitious future in a gloomy hour". Analysts say closing the military prison will not be easy. Some 250 men are still being held at the facility in Cuba and many fear persecution if they are sent home.

Dick Cheney, the departing vice-president, said he did not see how Guantanamo could be responsibly closed until the "war on terror" was over. He also tried to justify using "water-boarding" on some detainees during interrogation. He said the technique, which simulates drowning, was an appropriate means of extracting information from suspects such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 11 September attacks.

White House officials have detailed catastrophic events Mr Obama could face in his first 100 days in office, such as another terror attack on the US, a nuclear accident in North Korea or a cyber-attack on US computer systems.

The New York Times says President Bush has had his staff draw up as many as three dozen potential threats Mr Obama could encounter when he assumes power after 20 January.