Condoleezza Rice defends Guantanamo

By Susan Cornwell

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denied on Friday that prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre were abused.

Rice, speaking at a briefing during a short visit to Iceland, defended the Bush administration after she was asked about a resolution adopted by Iceland's parliament criticising the U.S. government over Guantanamo.

Icelandic Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Gisladottir said she had spoken to Rice about Guantanamo.

"I strongly object to the notion that there are human rights violations at Guantanamo," Rice said.

"Guantanamo is a place that the president himself has said he would like to close. There is the problem of what you do with the dangerous people who are there."

The resolution, which had been adopted unanimously by Icelandic legislators including the foreign minister and prime minister, condemned the "inhumane" treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo and urged the U.S. government to close the camp.

Rice stopped in Iceland on the way back after a trip to Sweden for a conference on rebuilding Iraq.

She said the United States, which closed a military base on Iceland in 2006 and withdrew its F-15 fighters, had a clear commitment to continue cooperating on defence with its NATO ally.