US ties up Guantanamo closure funds.

This is from AFP via Yahoo.

Obama will close Guantanamo but it does not look like it will be any time soon and Obama is also considering setting up new military tribunals even though he was quite critical of such tribunals during the Bush era. No doubt these will be new. changed and much better!
It seems that no one wants Guantanamo inmates the ones that are left even though some are some such as the Uighirs are hardly a danger to the US and groups have offered to help them adjust.



US Senate ties up Guantanamo closure funds
Wed May 13, 7:18 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US senators on Thursday were to debate a bill forbidding the use of new money to close the Guantanamo Bay prison for suspected terrorists to ship any detainees to the United States.
The Senate Appropriations Committee was to take up legislation granting US President Barack Obama's request for 80 million dollars to shutter the controversial facility by January 22, 2010 -- but attaching strict conditions.
Obama had requested the funding as part of an emergency measure to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through October 1, but quickly ran into tough Republican opposition and widespread Democratic unease.
The Senate bill would address those misgivings by forbidding the use of 50 million dollars to cover Defense Department expenses tied to closing the facility for bringing detainees to US soil.
None of the money could be spent until 30 days after Defense Secretary Robert Gates has provided a detailed plan for where the funds will go, according to a summary provided by a congressional source late Wednesday.
The bill would also stipulate that the money "can only be used to relocate prisoners to locations outside of the United States, and only if the Secretary has certified that prisoners transferred to other nations will remain in that nation?s custody as long as they remain a threat to the United States."
As for the 30 million dollars Obama sought for the Justice Department, the summary says, "no funds are provided in this Title to transfer, relocate, or incarcerate Guantanamo Bay detainees to or within the United States."
Instead, the money would go towards expenses tied to Attorney General Eric Holder's review of the status of each of the 241 detainees -- like providing space and equipment to review their cases and defray costs linked to staffing the review.
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