Washington, April 15: US Attorney General Eric Holder told a Senate panel on Wednesday that the United States will close the Guantanamo Bay prison, “as quickly as we can,” after having encountered delays and logistical challenges.
“It is fully the intention of this administration to close the facility at Guantanamo,” Holder told a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, speaking about efforts to shutter the US base in Cuba, which houses foreign suspects.
“There was, and I think still is… bipartisan support for the notion that the Guantanamo facility should be closed,” he said, adding “we will close Guantanamo as quickly as we can.”
As one of his first acts after taking office, Obama vowed to close the US military base within a year, but his administration has struggled to find countries to take those cleared of any charges but who cannot be returned to their home countries for various reasons.
Asked about plans to try suspects charged with the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, Holder said he expects a decision “in a number of weeks.”
“The administration is in the process of reviewing the decision as to where Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants should actually be tried,” he said.
The Obama administration several weeks ago announced with fanfare that New York had been selected as the site for the trials, but was forced to backpedal after city officials balked, citing high costs and security worries.
Holder said he favors a criminal trial for the defendants, but he has been opposed by some who have called for the men to be prosecuted by a US military tribunal.
Holder said that despite the controversy, a civilian trial in New York remains a possibility.
“New York is not off the table as a place where they might be tried, but we have to take into consideration the concerns that have been raised by local officials and by the community in New York City,” he said.
“We expect that we will be in a position to make that determination, I think, in a number of weeks,” Holder said.
—Agencies