FACTBOX: Reaction to Obama order to close Guantanamo prison

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama signed executive orders on Thursday closing the Guantanamo military prison for foreign terrorism suspects within a year and halting the harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects.

Here is some reaction to the orders, signed two days after Obama took office:

OBAMA IN COMMENTS AT STATE DEPARTMENT

"I can say without exception or equivocation that the United States will not torture."

"The orders that I signed today should send an unmistakable signal that our actions in defense of liberty will be as just as our cause and that we, the people, will uphold our fundamental values as vigilantly as we protect our security."

"Once again, America's moral example must be the bedrock and the beacon of our global leadership."

OUTGOING CIA CHIEF MICHAEL HAYDEN IN MESSAGE TO EMPLOYEES

"When our government changes its law or policy, we will follow that direction without exception, carve-out, or loophole."

"Our Agency has many counter-terror tools in its arsenal. The rendition, detention and interrogation program has been an important one."

"As intelligence professionals, you, the men and women of CIA, will make the best possible use of the space the Republic has given us to act boldly and bravely in its defense."

REPUBLICAN SENATORS JOHN MCCAIN AND LINDSEY GRAHAM IN JOINT

STATEMENT

"We support President Obama's decision to close the prison at Guantanamo, reaffirm America's adherence to the Geneva Conventions, and begin a process that will, we hope, lead to the resolution of all cases of Guantanamo detainees."

"Numerous difficult issues remain. Present at Guantanamo are a number of detainees who have been cleared for release but have found no foreign country willing to accept them. Other detainees have been deemed too dangerous for release, but the sensitive nature of the evidence makes prosecution difficult."

"Also unresolved is the type of judicial process that would replace the military commissions. We believe the military commissions should have been allowed to continue their work."

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR LARRY COX

"While the executive order leaves many questions unanswered, including the possibility of detainees being held for up to a year without charge, Amnesty International welcomes this very important measure and hopes it signals a commitment to place human rights at the heart of the new administration."

"Any plan to try or release Guantanamo detainees must comply with international human rights safeguards. Detainees should be promptly charged and sent for trial before U.S. federal courts without relying on the use of tainted evidence gained through coercion or torture."

HOUSE MINORITY LEADER JOHN BOEHNER, AN OHIO REPUBLICAN

"The real fear is what do you do with these terrorists and if you make it clear you are going to close Guantanamo and you don't have a policy in place to deal with those who are housed there. What do you do?"

"I'm concerned that some of these let go too soon could end up back on the battlefield."

SAXBY CHAMBLISS, REPUBLICAN SENATOR FROM GEORGIA AND MEMBER

OF INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE

"What we are proposing to do with the closing of Guantanamo Bay is to bring those 245 mean, nasty killers to U.S. soil, or seek to transfer them to other countries."

"What we're going to have is all of a sudden, in all likelihood, the release of some of those individuals into our society, and we know that they are mean, nasty killers."

"If it's our job to hunt down those extremists who seek to do us harm, isn't that a conflict with the position that ... the administration has relative to Guantanamo Bay?"

SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN PATRICK LEAHY, DEMOCRAT

FROM VERMONT

"President Obama's new executive orders are important steps toward bringing to an end some of the Bush administration's most damaging national security policies."

"Our new president is sending a clear signal that we are moving forward and demonstrating to the world that we can both protect our national security and remain a nation of laws that respects human dignity."

(Reporting by Deborah Charles in Washington; Editing by John O'Callaghan)