Obama will have to go through legal maze to shut down GITMO

Washington, Jan.21 (ANI): New US President Barack Obama has promised that one of his first actions as the nation's chief executive would be to close the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

But closing the detention center, according to CBS, would involve finding his way through a labyrinth of legal tangles - and may not be accomplished in the first 100 days.

In order to close Guantánamo and remove the remaining 250 detainees, Obama will have to address several issues: deciding what to do with 100 or so dangerous detainees; relocating the 50 detainees who have been cleared for release and finding countries to accept them where they would not be tortured or persecuted; and deciding what kind of trials to have for those who have committed crimes, some of whom have admitted involvement in the 9/11 attacks.

Several European nations have offered to admit detainees who have been cleared for release.

The Obama administration will also have to work with Congress to overturn the laws that have created the troubled military commissions and decide whether or not to pursue investigations into alleged war crimes committed by the Bush Administration.

The Obama administration is likely to work with Senator Dianne Feinstein, the new head of the Intelligence Committee, who has a bill for closing Guantánamo which sets a one-year deadline to try or release the detainees, and which would require the C.I.A. to report all detainees to the International Red Cross. (ANI)