Havana  - Cuba's government on Wednesday reiterated demands to the United States to return the territory of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to the island.

Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told journalists that US President Barack Obama's announcement to close down Guantanamo was "positive, but insufficient."

"We hope that the decision to close the Guantanamo detention camp will be followed by a decision to close down the naval base and return the territory to the Cuban people," Perez Roque said.

The US permanently leased the territory on imposed term as its troops, who had occupied Cuba, left in 1903 and built a naval base at the strategically important bay in the west of the island.

Since its interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington has been using the base as a detention camp for prisoners in its "war against terrorism." (dpa)