• Submitted by: admin
• Guantánamo
• International
• United States
• Politics and Government
• 11 / 12 / 2009

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A total of 215 foreign men are held as detainees at Guantánamo. U.S. officials are reviewing which Guantánamo Bay detainees could face trial in American courts and the first indications could come next week, the U.S. attorney general said Sunday.

Eric Holder told reporters that some decisions could be announced as early as Nov. 16, but he declined to give details or say whether it could include some of the detainees accused in the September 11 attacks.

The Senate last week backed a plan - supported by Holder and Defense Secretary Robert Gates - to have the option of prosecuting accused September 11 terrorists, such as alleged mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed, in either federal courts or by a military commission.

"We are committed to bring to justice people who have committed crimes against our nation and we will do so consistent with the rule of the law," Holder said on the sidelines of a conference on battling corruption.

The five accused Sept. 11 plotters are being held at the Guantánamo detention facility, which the Obama administration has promised to close.

But U.S. officials are struggling with issues such as deciding which detainees will face prosecution and which can be returned to their homeland or a third country. The administration also is grappling with how to keep in prison a small handful of detainees considered too dangerous to release or put on trial.

"There has been some speculation that we will not make the January deadline of closing Guantánamo," said Holder. "But I will make one thing very clear: We will close the facility at Guantánamo. Getting this far as not been as an easy task and much work remains to be done and we will close Guantánamo."

One of Obama's main promises is the closing of Guantanamo prison foressen in his campaign

Source: The Miami Herald.com