Guantanamo Bay transfers a quiet project

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's administration is working on more transfers out of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the wake of last week's release of five Taliban fighters but said Wednesday that it doesn't have a timeline for progress.

One national security official said Wednesday that the administration is making headway on some "promising opportunities," but that the process may take some time.

"While we continue to work toward closure, there are no imminent transfer announcements in the works," National Security Council spokesman Caitlin Hayden said.

Last week's transfer of Guantanamo detainees in exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl angered lawmakers, who were not notified before the detainees were released. Some are suspicious that the move signals an opening of the doors on the prison, which holds 149 people, including the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Obama, who has sought unsuccessfully to shut the prison since he took office, hinted strongly last week that he still intends to move more detainees out as the Pentagon winds down its war in Afghanistan.

"By definition, if we in fact are ending a war, then there's going to be a process in which some of those individuals are going to be released," he said on NBC News.

After briefings with administration officials this week, some Republican lawmakers said they believe the White House intends to release more prisoners without seeking congressional consent, as they did to gain Bergdahl's release from the Taliban.

"There's some concern that this is a lead-up to letting them all go," said Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, a California Republican and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., said she sharply disagrees with the administration's contention that ending the war in Afghanistan would necessitate transferring all remaining detainees.

"Even with the wind-down of the war in Afghanistan, unless the authorization for use of military force is rescinded, we still have authority under that to hold them under law of war detention if we believe they still present a danger," she said.

The release of the five Taliban members has given lawmakers who are committed to keeping Guantanamo open, such as Ayotte, new ammunition in their fight.

A new defense authorization bill that passed the House last month maintains prohibitions on transferring most detainees from the detention facility. But the Senate Armed Services Committee included a provision that would allow some to be transferred to U.S. soil for detention or trial, under strict circumstances.

Ayotte, a committee member who opposed that provision, said she had intended to try to strip that language from the bill when the full Senate takes up the measure. But she now hopes to restore an even higher standard for national security waivers that the administration must provide before transferring high-risk detainees.

Hayden said the White House is "making progress on a number of additional promising opportunities" to transfer more detainees and is reviewing Yemeni detainees "on a case-by-case basis."

"While we do not generally discuss transfers before they take place, we are fully committed to implementing the president's direction that we transfer detainees to the greatest extent possible, consistent with national security and our humane treatment policy, as we work toward closing the facility at Guantanamo Bay," she said.

Hayden said 17 inmates have been moved out of Cuba in the past 13 months, including the five former Taliban officials transferred to Qatar in the swap for Bergdahl, who had been held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan for five years.

A Section on 06/12/2014

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