Washington, August 21: A number of European Union states have made a pact with the US to help shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison by relocating detainees from the detention facility to their countries.
Nine EU countries from the 27 bloc of nations have been in discussions with the United States in order to transfer the prisoners, held without charge at Guantanamo on the leased Cuban territories, to the EU states.
At least four of the EU negotiators have declared their ‘commitment’ to the resettlement of the inmates in a move to facilitate the closure of the notorious US prison as vowed by President Barack Obama, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
So far the US administrations have been unable to press charges against the 229 existing ‘terror’ detainees at the prison camp originally set up in 2002 to house those who the US calls “enemy combatants.”
The negotiating EU nations have expressed readiness to accept around 80 Guantanamo inmates who have been cleared for release, according to the report.
The Obama administration sparked controversies in the country over plans to relocate the prisoners on US soil.
Meanwhile, the White House appears to have shifted its policies on the relocation of the Gitmo prisoners by planning to engage in ‘rehousing’ talks with a spate of countries worldwide.
Washington has already gained the favor of Portugal, Bermuda, France, Ireland, Bermuda and the Pacific archipelago of Palau on repositioning of the detainees, while Australia and Georgia continue their ‘positive’ discussions to help materialize Obama’s vow’s of shutting down the naval base ill-famed for the practice of the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques to extract information from those in custody.
The US has also announced plans to hold talks with Persian Gulf states and countries in the Balkans and the former Soviet Union satellites in an attempt to remove the ‘terrorist’ from southeast Cuba.
—–Agencies