LONDON, March 8 (UPI) -- A British foreign office minister reportedly has urged the United States to close its military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the interest of democracy.
The call by Kim Howells came as the visiting U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in that the camp is lawful and necessary, reports the Independent.
Howells, minister in charge of British policy in the Middle East, told Parliament: "Our alliance with America is based on shared values ... If Guantanamo is undermining those shared values then it should go, it should close."
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, responding to Howell's strong plea, said, "He has always said that it is an anomaly that should be dealt with sooner rather than later, but he has equally recognized the circumstances under which it arose."
Gonzales told his British hosts the 500 Guantanamo detainees include terrorist trainers, bomb makers, former bodyguards of Osama bin Laden and potential suicide bombers.
