Havana, January 12 (XINHUA) -- Cuba will not create obstacles to the U.S. decision to hold part of the Taliban and al-Qaeda war prisoners at the U.S. naval base of Guantanamo, the Cuban government said in a statement on Friday. 
	
	
 This is the first time that the Cuban government has expressed its position over the U.S. holding of the Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners in its territory. 
	
	
 Guantanamo is part of the Cuban territory, but the Cuban government will not create obstacles to the U.S. transfer of the war prisoners there, it said. 
	
	
 The Guantanamo Bay has been in U.S. hands since the Spanish- American War in 1898. The United States has refused to give up the facility, which is sealed from Cuba by a heavily guarded, 27- kilometer perimeter fence, despite Cuban objection to its continued existence. 
	
	
 In the statement, the Cuban government said the country would maintain close contacts with the U.S. military personnel in the naval base. 
	
	
 A first group of 20 war prisoners from Afghanistan arrived Friday afternoon at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo on the southeastern tip of Cuba, about 1,000 kilometers from the capital city of Havana.