White House Reiterates Vow to Close Guantanamo Prison

U.S. President Barack Obama is pressing ahead with his plan to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, which holds 107 suspected terrorists, many of whom have been there for more than a decade.

Speaking at a news conference Thursday in Manila, Obama acknowledged that in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris there will be strong resistance to his plan from Republican lawmakers, many of whom also oppose his effort to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees to settle in the United States in the next year.

"We can keep the American people safe while shutting down that operation" in Guantanamo, Obama said. "In the aftermath of Paris, I think that there is just a very strong tendency for us to get worked up around issues that don't actually make us safer."

The president said he expects the number of prisoners held at Guantanamo could fall below 100 early in 2016, a year before he leaves office in January 2017. 

The prison was opened after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States; nearly 800 prisoners have been held there at one time or another............http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-guantanamo-prison/3065066.html
19/11/15
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