Obama's photo going up as he inherits Guantanamo

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - At the dusty, sun-baked U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, photo lab workers were printing up dozens of copies of the official portrait of newly installed President Barack Obama, who plans to close base's prison camp as quickly as possible.

As commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces, Obama is now in charge of the infamous prison camp that was widely seen as a symbol of detainee abuse and detention without charges under the administration of his predecessor, George W. Bush.

Obama's portrait will replace Bush's on boards all over the base showing the military command structure.

"They're going up today," said mass communications chief Bill Mesta, the base spokesman.

Nearly half of the 7,000 people living on the Caribbean base are involved in the joint task force that runs the Guantanamo detention operation, which holds about 245 foreign captives in the U.S. war on terrorism.

Those involved in the operation were awaiting their new orders and wondering when they might come.

Obama's spokesman, Robert Gibbs, suggested a shut-down order could come in a matter of days, though no one has said how long it might take to empty the prison cells.

"I don't want to get ahead of the president on this but I would stay tuned for some announcements later in the week, sure," Gibbs told CNN, just hours before Obama took office.

Judges presiding in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals gave participants the afternoon off to watch the inauguration.

"We're going to resume tomorrow at 0900 unless otherwise ordered," said Army Col. Patrick Parrish, the judge in Canadian captive Omar Khadr's trial.

Sailors eating their lunch in the Guantanamo base's Goldhill Galley watched Obama's inauguration on the televisions that dot the walls.

"It's been a long time coming," said MC1 Ernie Dwight, one of a handful of black sailors who applauded when the first black U.S. president took the oath of office.

President Harry Truman ordered an end to racial segregation in the U.S. military in 1948. Dwight said Obama's election showed the nation's highest office was now open to anyone.

"Others out there now can look at him and say, 'I can be president,'" he said.

At a nearby table full of Seabees, the Navy construction workers were discussing how their jobs might change under the new administration.

"I'm actually expecting my pay to decrease a bit. It's going from Republican to Democrat, meaning probably a bit of downsizing in the military," said Seabee steelworker Joshua Nenortas.

(Editing by Jim Loney and Vicki Allen)