US Senate Blocks Guantanamo Detainee Transfer, Camp Closure Funds

Photos

Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

see larger image

uploaded by Wisco

The US Senate voted 90-6 on Wednesday to reject the planned transfer of 240 detainees from Guantanamo Bay and refused the $80 million funding request Obama's administration had previously made to close down the prison camp.

The move would have seen the detainees relocated from Gitmo to US detention facilities but Republican senators such as John Thune fought back, stating that "American people don't want these men walking the streets of America's neighbourhoods."

Despite the setbacks, Obama still plans to close Guantanamo Bay by January 2010.

PREVIOUSLY — U.S. Democratic senators voted overwhelmingly to refuse President Obama the $80 million his administration had requested to shut down the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention center.

The money had been earmarked for a Senate war funding bill, that would allow "the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice to begin shutting down the prison".

The decision comes as Senate Democrats became reluctant to face "an onslaught of criticism from Republicans" who have been adamantly opposed to closing the prison "prematurely".