White House finalizing plan to close Guantanamo prison

The White House is in the “final stages” of a plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, spokesman Josh Earnest said. President Barack Obama made the closure of the controversial offshore prison a priority when he took office in 2009, but the plan has faced numerous setbacks, including Congress blocking the transfer of detainees to US prisons.

“The administration is in fact in the final stages of drafting a plan to safely and responsibly close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and to present that to Congress,” Earnest said.

“That has been something that our national security officials have been working on for quite some time, primarily because it is a priority of the president.”

The operation of the center in Cuba is not an effective use of government resources, Earnest told reporters.”This is complicated work, but we have made a lot of important progress,” he added.

The Guantanamo US military facility is also opposed by the Cuban government, with which the US recently restored diplomatic relations.Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called for the return of the territory to Cuba while in Washington.Washington has slowly been sending prisoners back to their home countries or to third countries, something that needs to continue if the facility is to shut, Earnest said.