UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Thursday urged the United States to decide on the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center, saying it must be shut down "sooner or later."

    "I think sooner or later there will be a need to close Guantanamao. I think it will be up to the government to decide, and hopefully to do it as soon as possible," Annan told reporters after a luncheon with Security Council members.

    Annan's comments came after a UN report was released in Geneva earlier Thursday calling on Washington "to close down the Guantanamo Bay detention center and to refrain from any practice amounting to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment."

    "There is a lot in the report, and I cannot say that I necessarily agree with everything in the report," the UN chief said.

    "But the basic point, that one cannot detain individuals in perpetuity and that charges have to be brought against them and be given a chance to explain themselves, and be prosecuted, charged or released ... is something that is common under any legal system," he added.

    White House spokesman Scott McClellan Thursday rejected the UN report, saying it is a merely "rehash" of allegations that have been made previously by lawyers for some Guantanamo detainees.

    About 500 terror suspects are being jailed at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, most of whom were captured in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan in 2001, being held indefinitely without a trial. Enditem