White House says expects Guantanamo transfers announced before Jan. 20

[January 04, 2017]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday it expects additional transfers of prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay military prison to be announced before President Barack Obama leaves office on Jan. 20.

A guard opens the gate at the entrance to Camp VI, a prison used to house detainees at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, March 5, 2013. REUTERS/Bob Strong

"I would expect at this point additional transfers to be announced before January 20," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters when asked about a message on Twitter by President-elect Donald Trump earlier on Tuesday saying "There should be no more releases" from the prison at the U.S. naval base in Cuba.

Last month a source close to the matter said Obama planned to transfer as many as 18 more prisoners from Guantanamo, nearly a third of the remaining 59 at the facility where the United States has held terrorism suspects since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Eric Walsh)

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