Barack Obama and White House in final stages of drafting plan to close Guantanamo prison
A White House spokesperson has confirmed that US president Barack Obama is in the "final stages" of drafting a plan to close the prison at Guantanamo, Reuters has reported.
The military prison has been a source of controversy since it opened in 2002, with Amnesty International calling it the “Gulag of our times” after reports of torture.
A 30-day notice is required by law before transferring any of the prisoners, who are currently not allowed to be brought to US prisons.
Obama has been working towards closing down Guantanamo since his first day in office in 2008, but Congress has thus far thwarted his plans. Most of its detainees have been transferred to other prisons, however. 116 remain on the site today, down from almost 800.
Although it's as yet unclear exactly how the Obama administration plan to close the prison will work, reports last year suggested the president planned to bring in his executive powers to override the Congressional ban on bringing prisoners into the US.