Madrid - Spain's attorney-general said Thursday he would oppose a request by judge Baltasar Garzon to investigate six US officials over torture claims at the Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba.

Garzon made international headlines in 1998 for issuing an international arrest warrant against General Augusto Pinochet over the deaths of Spanish citizens in Chile.

He has now asked prosecutors to advise whether he should investigate a complaint lodged by an association defending prisoners rights in March.

The suspects named in the complaint include former US attorney- general Alberto Gonzales, who was a legal advisor of the administration of George W Bush, and five others.

They are accused of being "judicially responsible" for the creation of the prison camp and for sanctioning torture there.

Attorney-General Candido Conde-Pumpido said the public prosecutors' office opposed the probe, saying he did not want the National Court to be used as a "toy" or "instrument."

Garzon and other judges at the court have investigated numerous allegations of human rights abuses in other countries, ranging from Latin America to Tibet and Western Sahara.(dpa)