Kabul  - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday welcomed the decision by US President Barack Obama to close down the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

This decision by the new US administration was "a good step in getting international support for the war against terrorism and enclosure of all nations into this fight," Karzai was quoted as saying in a press release.

Obama on Thursday signed directives setting a one-year deadline for closing Guantanamo.

Newly sworn-in US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Karzai, saying that the cooperation between the US and Afghanistan would continue "on all fronts," Karzai's office said. (dpa)