3 ambassadors: Close Guantanamo

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- The British, French and German ambassadors to Washington called for the closing of the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay in a joint TV appearance.

"Guantanamo is an embarrassment, and so it has to be solved one way or the other, " said Jean-David Levitte of France. "It is necessary to have the people in Guantanamo get a fair trial."

Wolfgang Ischinger of Germany and Sir David Manning of Britain joined Levitte on CNN on Sunday to urge the closure. Manning took a somewhat softer line on the detention center at the U.S. Marine base in Cuba, saying that "it is difficult to find the right line to draw."

The government of Prime Minister Tony Blair, generally one of the Bush administration's staunchest allies, appears split on Guantanamo, The Telegraph reported.

Blair called the detention center "an anomaly" while he on visit to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain has called for closing it and Defense Secretary John Reid has said he will not tell the United States "how to deal the response to international terrorism."