Guantanamo closure in national interest: US administration

The closing down of the Guantanamo detention centre was in the security interest of the US , the Obama administration maintained today, amid a clamour among lawmakers for a review of the decision and for stopping of the transfer of detainees to Yemen.

The closing down of the Guantanamo detention centre was in the security interest of the US , the Obama administration maintained today, amid a clamour among lawmakers for a review of the decision and for stopping of the transfer of detainees to Yemen.

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"We believe closing Gitmo is in the national security interest of the country," a senior Administration official said. Soon after coming to power, US President Barack Obama, had announced his decision to close the Guantanamo detention centre in one year.

With reports emerging that two al Qaeda leaders, once Guantanamo detainees, were behind the failed plot to bomb a US Airliner mid-air, several lawmakers demanded the decision be reviewed and the sending of detainees to Yemen be stopped.

Though unlikely to meet its deadline of January 2010, the Guantanamo detention centre is on its way to be closed, with many of the detainees expected to be transferred to Yemen. "We are confident that any transfers that we are making are being made not only consistent with our national security interests but also with what we consider to be a fundamental national security interest in closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay," said a senior Administration official.

He was responding to question referring to demands by several US lawmakers in this regard, who said the Guantanamo detainees should not be released to Yemen at this time.