Britain and the United States are still in disagreement on closure of Guantanamo Camp in Cuba after the two country's foreign ministers' talks in Blackburn, north-west England on Saturday.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a joint news conference in Blackburn's town hall with UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that the United States didn't want the prison in Guantanamo Bay "any longer than is needed". "We have to recognize Guantanamo is there for a reason, because we captured people on battlefields ... who were either plotting, or planning or actively engaged in terrorist activities," she said.

But Straw, who invited Rice to his constituency to repay his October trip to her home state of Alabama, said "the prime minister and I agree that Guantanamo Camp should close."

Around 200 protesters holding banners proclaiming "War on terror, war on Islam" and "Bring the troops home from Iraq", greeted the two politicians outside Blackburn's civic building. But Rice said that the demonstration was an exercise in democracy.

She also defended the U.S. policy on Iraq, and said she was confident that the decision in removing Saddam from power was "the right strategic" one.

But she recognized that there were some questions over U.S. foreign policy. On Friday, Rice admitted in Blackburn that the Bush Administration had made "thousands" of mistakes in Iraq.

Anti-war protesters had caused Rice to cancel a planned visit to a mosque in Blackburn on Friday with warnings of protests from a group of Muslims which included members of "the Stop the War Coalition".

Earlier when she arrived at Liverpool John Lennon Airport on Thursday night, she also was greeted by dozens of demonstrators chanting anti-war slogans.

Source: Xinhua