Obama committed to close Guantanamo Bay prison
Published:Thursday | May 21, 2009 | 1:32 PM
US President Barack Obama has reiterated his commitment to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba.
Mr. Obama has described the detention centre as a misguided experiment and a mess that must be cleaned up.
He says it has weakened national security and rallies enemies of the US.
The President says he’s determined to close the camp by January 2010 while respecting US law.
Mr. Obama was speaking at the US National Archives, where the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights are kept.
The US Congress has rejected Mr Obama\'s move to fund the closure.
As well as funding plans being blocked, proposals to transfer other inmates from the camp to facilities on the US mainland were also voted down by the Senate yesterday.
Meanwhile, An al Qaeda suspect is to become the first inmate at the Guantanamo Bay camp to stand trial in a US civilian court.
The Justice Department says Ahmed Ghailani will face charges in a federal court in New York over the 1998 US embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya that killed more than 200 people.
Attorney General Eric Holder says the decision was made to prosecute Ahmed Ghailani in a federal court, so that he will finally answer for his alleged role in the bombing of the embassies.