US president Barack Obama on Thursday delivered an impassioned defence of his administration’s anti-terrorism policies, reiterating his determination to close the prison at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba in the face of growing Congressional pressure and warning that it was essential to stand by the country’s basic principles.

The President said that what has gone on at Guantanamo for the past seven years has demonstrated an unjust, haphazard “ad hoc approach” that has undermined rather than strengthened America’s safety, and that moving its most dangerous inmates to the US is both practical and in keeping with the country’s cherished ideals.

Speaking at the National Archives, which houses the Constitution and other documents embodying America’s system of Government and justice, the President promised to work with Congress to develop a safe and fair system for dealing with those Guantanamo detainees who cannot be prosecuted “yet who pose a clear danger to the American people”.

“I want to be honest: this is the toughest issue we will face,” the President said.

Nevertheless, despite the evil intentions of some Guantanamo detainees and the undeniable fact that al-Qaeda terrorists are determined to attack America again, US citizens should not feel uneasy about a relatively small number of detainees being imprisoned in the American homeland, Obama said.

“As we make these decisions, bear in mind the following fact: nobody has ever escaped from one of our federal supermax prisons, which hold hundreds of convicted terrorists,” the President said.

Minutes after Obama finished speaking, former Vice-President Dick Cheney offered a far different perspective, defending the anti-terrorism policies of the Bush administration and criticising some of President Obama’s approaches.