Britain to help close Guantanamo prison

LONDON, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- Britain plans to accept foreign terror suspects from Guantanamo Bay so Barack Obama can close it when he becomes U.S. president, The Times of London says.

Government sources say that Britain now supports moves to relocate the detainees despite previous refusals to help President Bush.

A Downing Street official said that a process to deal with the detainees was being put in place and that decisions "would be for the home secretary to decide on a case-by-case basis".

Britain is supporting a call from Portugal for European Union members to help resettle detainees in their respective countries. Germany also has said that it is considering taking in detainees.

The Bush administration cabled about 100 countries asking for help with a list of detainees who face persecution in their home countries.

The requests reportedly were met largely with refusals, but there was a desire to help Obama, who has vowed to begin moves to close the prison as soon as he takes office on Jan. 20, the Times said.