White House drafting plan to close Guantanamo
Iran Press TV
Thu Jul 23, 2015 7:57AM
The US administration is in the final stages of drafting a plan and sending it to Congress to close the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, a long-delayed promise by President Barack Obama.
The Obama administration hopes to 'short circuit' opposition from Republicans in Congress who have blocked Obama from closing the prison, the White House said Wednesday.
"The administration is in the final stages of drafting a plan to safely and responsibly close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and to present that plan to Congress," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.
'There has got to be a better way for us to spend taxpayer dollars than to spend more than $100 million a year operating a prison that only has, I think now, 116 inmates,' Earnest added.
Washington has slowly been sending Guantanamo prisoners back to their native countries or to third nations, and may have to transfer some to the US if the facility is to close, Earnest said.
But the transfer of detainees to the United States is opposed by Republicans in Congress, and some lawmakers have tried to halt all transfers out of Guantanamo, saying the releases could lead to more attacks.
Congress is debating an annual defense policy bill that would permit closure of the prison, but only if Obama first submits a plan that is approved by US lawmakers.
The closure of the jail was among the main election promises of Obama during the 2008 presidential election. Obama vowed to close it within a year when he came to office in 2009.
The US military prison was set up by the Pentagon after the September 11, 2001, attacks to hold suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees. Many of the inmates there have gone on hunger strikes to protest their conditions at the prison.
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