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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Obama orders Guantanamo closure | Obama orders Guantanamo closure |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| US President Barack Obama has ordered the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to be closed within one year. | |
| Signing the order, Mr Obama said the US would continue to fight terror, but maintain "our values and our ideals". | |
| At Mr Obama's request, military judges have already suspended several of the trials of terror suspects at the Guantanamo detention centre. | At Mr Obama's request, military judges have already suspended several of the trials of terror suspects at the Guantanamo detention centre. |
| Mr Obama has also ordered a review of the military trials and a ban of harsh interrogation techniques. | |
| Many critics had considered aggressive interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding - or simulating drowning - to amount to torture. | |
| Mr Obama signed the three orders on Thursday, further distancing his new administration from the policies of his predecessor, George W Bush. | Mr Obama signed the three orders on Thursday, further distancing his new administration from the policies of his predecessor, George W Bush. |
| He said the Guantanamo prison "will be closed no later than one year from now." | He said the Guantanamo prison "will be closed no later than one year from now." |
| The US would continue to fight terror, he said, but maintain American values while doing so. | The US would continue to fight terror, he said, but maintain American values while doing so. |
| "The message that we are sending around the world is that the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism, and we are going to do so vigilantly, we are going to do so effectively, and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals." | "The message that we are sending around the world is that the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism, and we are going to do so vigilantly, we are going to do so effectively, and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals." |
| At the same time, the Senate Finance Committee approved the nomination of Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary, despite questions over his late payment of taxes earlier this decade. | At the same time, the Senate Finance Committee approved the nomination of Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary, despite questions over his late payment of taxes earlier this decade. |
| The full Senate next votes on Mr Obama's choice to be the point man in steering America through its sharpest economic downturn in decades. | The full Senate next votes on Mr Obama's choice to be the point man in steering America through its sharpest economic downturn in decades. |