|
 But the moves will require the final signature of Defense
Secretary Ash Carter, which could still delay the process, despite
President Barack Obama's push to empty the prison before he leaves
office in 2017.
With the White House drafting a broader plan to shut the facility,
the office of the State Department’s Guantanamo envoy has finalized
deals with several foreign governments and is in advanced
negotiations with others, the senior officials told Reuters.
They said the transfers from the prison at the U.S. Naval Base in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which has drawn international condemnation for
the harsh treatment of foreign terrorism suspects held there, could
take place by the end of the year, whittling down the current
prisoner population of 116.
Obama has faced opposition from congressional Republicans who passed
laws blocking any move to transfer Guantanamo inmates to prisons in
the United States. The White House says it is crafting a detailed
proposal it will present to Congress soon for shutting the facility.
 The State Department is pushing ahead with one of the main thrusts
of Obama’s strategy: sending home or resettling elsewhere as many as
possible of the 52 prisoners who have been ruled safe for release.
One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were
"political commitments at various stages" with U.S. allies and
partners around the world. Some have accepted detainees before and
others will be doing so for the first time.
The main focus is on dozens of Yemenis no longer considered security
risks. Washington has ruled out repatriating them because of the war
in their homeland.
PRESSURE ON PENTAGON
Much will depend on how fast the Pentagon is willing to do its part,
as well as how quickly inter-agency reviews unfold.
The White House has pressured Carter to expedite approval of
proposed transfers, essentially to act within 30 days on each case,
a source close to the matter said.
By law, the defense secretary has the final say on moving a prisoner
and is responsible if he returns to militant activities. The slow
pace under Carter’s predecessor, Chuck Hagel, led to a falling-out
with Obama’s White House. Hagel resigned in November.
[to top of second column] |
So far this year, four Yemeni prisoners were sent to Oman and one to
Estonia in January, and in June six Yemenis were flown to Oman.
U.S. officials say they hope to ramp up the transfers under the new
State Department envoy, Lee Wolosky, to help cut down the prison
population to an "irreducible minimum.” Accelerated reviews are
planned for those deemed “too dangerous to release” to see if any
can be added to the transfer list.
The plan being drafted will call for possibly dozens who remain to
be moved to the United States and held in federal “Supermax”
penitentiaries or military prisons, Obama’s counterterrorism
adviser, Lisa Monaco, told a recent conference.
This proposal would set up a major fight with Congress.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said work on the plan was
continuing and that it would likely be presented to Congress after
it returns from summer recess in early September.
The prison was opened by President George W. Bush, after the Sept.
11, 2001 attacks to house suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members
rounded up overseas.
Obama has repeatedly pledged to close the facility, where most
detainees have been held for more than a decade without trial. It
now holds less than half of the number of prisoners it did when he
took office in 2009.
(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick; Editing by David Storey and Tom
Brown)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
