(VOVworld) - The White House said Thursday that efforts to normalize ties with Cuba will not include a deal to return Guantanamo Bay. At a White House briefing on Thursday, press secretary Josh Earnest said that President Obama does believe that the prison at Guantanamo Bay should be closed down but the US does not want the naval base to be closed. The US naval base locates on Cuba’s southeast coast together with Guantanamo Bay prison where inmates accused of terrorism are kept without trials. The move followed Wednesday’s statement from Cuban President Raul Castro that restoring Havana’s control of the bay is a prerequisite for normalizing ties with the US.