By Roger Runningen Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama suggested he may not make his Jan. 22 deadline for closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, according to an interview he gave Fox News. “We are on a path and a process where I would anticipate that Guantanamo will be closed next year,” Obama told Fox in Beijing, according to a network transcript. “I’m not going to set an exact date because a lot of this is also going to depend upon cooperation from Congress.” Two days after taking office, Obama ordered the U.S. prison camp for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, closed within a year and banned intelligence agencies from using the harshest interrogation techniques. The Justice Department last week announced it plans to transfer five terror suspects to New York for a civil trial. The move is part of Obama’s promise to close the prison, though Congress may intervene on the future of remaining suspects held at the detention facility, delaying the shutdown. The Obama administration has been reviewing the cases of the 215 Guantanamo detainees to determine which ones should be transferred to other countries, put on trial, or held indefinitely. To contact the reporter on this story: Roger Runningen in Washington at rrunningen@bloomberg.net
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Obama Suggests Jan. 22 Deadline for Closing Guantanamo Prison Won’t Be Met
