(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) US President Barack Obama is considering "a wide array" of options for closing the controversial US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, the White House says.
Spokesman Josh Earnest said winning Congress approval to close the jail would be the best option. But he did not rule out executive action as a means to shut it down, according to the (BBC). Obama is determined to shut down the prison before the end of his term in 2017, but faces bipartisan opposition in Congress.
The US has slowly been sending prisoners back to their home countries or to third countries. Just 116 inmates currently remain compared to the prison's peak population of 684 in 2003. But closing the prison would likely require the transfer of some Guantanamo inmates to jails within the US, a measure that has already been banned by Congress.
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