(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM)) The White House has said that it is in the final stage of drafting a plan for closing the Guantanamo prison for foreign terrorism suspects, racing against time to resolve one of President Barack Obama's most intractable problems, reported Reuters.
White House spokesman, Josh Earnest, said the administration hoped to "short circuit" opposition from Republicans in Congress who have blocked Obama from closing the prison, one of his top goals.
Republicans have barred transfers to America from the facility at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval base in Cuba. The administration has also faced resistance from the Pentagon to repatriating those who are still seen as a potential threat.
The news agency added that the prison has been the source of alleged abuses, including the waterboarding of prisoners under interrogation, and the White House says it is used as a propaganda tool for militant groups recruiting supporters to fight America.
It was set up after the September 11th, 2001, attacks for al Qaeda and Taliban detainees. Obama vowed to close it within a year when he came to office in 2009.
"The administration is in the final stages of drafting a plan to safely, responsibly, close the prison at Guantanamo and to present that plan to Congress," Earnest told a regular briefing.
There were two transfers of prisoners to their homeland or third countries this year that cut the total of inmates there from 127 to 116. Washington has ruled out sending 69 Yemenis home because of the chaotic security situation in their homeland.
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