Guantanamo detainees

Britain, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain have accepted or publicly agreed to take detainees. In addition, four EU countries have privately told the administration that they are committed to resettling detainees, and five other EU nations are considering taking some, according to officials in US President Barack Obama's administration, who spoke to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity.

There are still 229 prisoners at the camp, which was opened in January 2002 by then president George W. Bush to hold "enemy combatants" in the US "war on terror." Obama has ordered the camp to be closed by January 22, 2010.

To meet that goal, the administration has appointed Daniel Fried, a longtime diplomat with deep ties to eastern Europe and parts of the former Soviet Union, to lead negotiations with other countries.

Some 80 prisoners are ready for release. The Post said that if resettling agreements could be made, a reduced detainee population would likely ease the politically charged debate on moving remaining prisoners to a facility on US soil.

Of the detainees cleared for release so far, eleven have been transferred home or to third countries, including Bermuda, which accepted four Chinese Uighurs. The Pacific island of Palau has agreed to resettle the 13 remaining Uighur detainees, and more than half of them are willing to go or are seriously considering the offer.

US looking towards eastern Europe

In addition, the administration has held positive talks with Australia and Georgia, and it has formally approached or is planning to hold talks with countries in South America, the Persian Gulf, the Balkans and the former Soviet Union, the Post wrote.

Congress has blocked the White House from resettling any detainees in the United States, a move that US and some European officials feared would lead other countries, particularly in the EU, to refuse to help close the military prison. But the issue has proved relatively unproblematic, officials said.

"Obama has a lot of political capital. Countries want to do something for him, and that allows us to say, 'This is it, this is what we want you to do,'" said a senior administration official quoted in the report. "This is going a lot better than we might have thought."

One senior administration official said negotiations in eastern Europe will intensify once detainees arrive in larger EU countries, such as Italy and Spain.

The Post also reported that US and European officials believe stalled negotiations with Berlin can be rekindled after Germany holds national parliamentary elections next month. And there is some expectation that France, which has taken one detainee, may accept more.

nda/AFP
Editor: Nancy Isenson