The White House on Friday acknowledged for the first time that it might not be able to close the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay by January as US President Barack Obama has promised.
Senior administration officials said that difficulties in completing the lengthy review of detainee files and resolving thorny legal and logistical questions mean the president’s self-imposed January deadline may slip. Obama remains as committed to closing the facility as he was when he pledged to shut it down in one of his first acts in office, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to more freely discuss the sensitive issue. They said the White House still was hoping to meet the deadline through a stepped-up effort.
The prison in Cuba was created by former US president George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as a landing spot for suspected al-Qaeda, Taliban and foreign fighters captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere. But it has since become a lightning rod of anti-US criticism around the globe. There are approximately 225 detainees still being held at the prison.
Obama promised soon after taking office — and many times since — to close the prison, arguing that doing so is crucial to restoring the US’ image in the world and to creating a more effective anti-terror approach.
But eight months after Obama’s pledge and with only four months to go before the January deadline, a number of difficult issues remain unresolved. They include establishment of a new set of rules for military trials, finding a location for a new prison to house detainees and finding host countries for those who can be released.
This has prompted top Republicans in Congress to demand that the prison stay open for now, saying it is too dangerous to rush the closure. Even Democrats defied the president, saying they needed more information about Obama’s plan before supporting it. Congress is for now denying Obama funds to shut down Guantanamo.
After Obama’s promise, administration officials and lawyers began reviewing the files on each detainee. At issue: which prisoners can be tried, and whether to do so in military or civilian courts; which can be released to other nations and — the hardest question — which are too dangerous or their cases too compromised by lack of evidence that they must be held indefinitely.
A major complaint surfaced immediately — that the Bush administration had not established a consolidated repository of intelligence and evidence on each prisoner. It took longer than expected to build a database, they said, because information was scattered throughout agencies and inconsistent.
That database has now been completed and prosecutors have also concluded their initial review of the detainees and recommended to the Justice Department an unspecified number who can apparently be prosecuted, the officials said. The Justice Department and the Pentagon now will work together to determine which prisoners should be tried in military courts and which in civilian ones, the officials said. They would not provide a number recommended for prosecution since it could change.
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