The Pentagon is working on a proposal to shut the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, that would be available to president-elect Barack Obama once he takes office, a defence official said yesterday.
US defence secretary Robert Gates asked his staff to come up with a plan to close the prison which Mr Obama has pledged to shut after he officially enters the White House on January 20th.
Guantánamo has about 250 detainees, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused of masterminding the September 11th attacks. The prison has come to symbolise aggressive detention practices that opened up the US to allegations of torture.
" has asked his team for a proposal on how to shut it down - what would be required specifically to close it and move the detainees from that facility while at the same time, of course, ensuring that we protect the American people from some dangerous characters," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.
Like Mr Obama, Mr Gates has said Guantánamo should be closed. Among the issues to be settled before the prison closes are what to do about the military commissions system, trials under way and about 60 detainees officials have approved for transfer to their home countries.
The Guantánamo tribunals are scheduled to reconvene on January 19th for pretrial hearings for Canadian captive Omar Khadr, set for trial the following week on charges of murdering a US soldier with a grenade during a firefight in Afghanistan. - (Reuters)