BRUSSELS, June 9 (Xinhuanet) -- US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld denied here on Thursday that the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba, could be shuttered.

    "If it is closed, where can we go," said Rumsfeld at a press conference at the interval of the NATO defense ministers' meeting,which started here on Thursday morning.

    Recently, the criticism of the facility and abuse at the prison has led former US President Jimmy Carter and others to call for its closure.

    On Wednesday, when asked if President Bush would shut down the detention center, White House press secretary Scott McClellan responded that "we're always looking at all alternatives when it comes to dealing with these detainees."

    However, Rumsfeld said the media's quote of McClellan was "false".

    He said setting up the prison after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack was not aimed to "have people there", but to get useful information about terrorist organizations.

    "We found information from interviewing the suspects," Rumsfeldtold the press.

    Another factor hindering the shutting down is that both Afghanistan and Iraq lack enough pinsons to hold these suspects, said the minister. Enditem