The Challenges of Closing the Guantanamo Bay Detainee Facility

June 18, 2009— -- Shortly after taking office in January, President Obama pledged to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year. But his administration is quickly finding out that doing so is no small task.

Since 2001, 779 detainees have been held in Guantanamo, 544 of whom have already been released and transferred to 39 countries, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

Before leaving office the Bush administration identified about 60 detainees for release because charges had not been brought against them and they were not deemed a threat.

Many of that group have already been resettled elsewhere, and some countries have pledged to take others, leaving the number that still need to be transferred or spoken for at around 27.

Noticeably absent on the list of countries willing to take in former detainees cleared for release, however, is the United States. One detainee, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, was transferred to New York last week, but that was in order to stand trial.

The Obama administration had hoped to resettle some Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic group from China, in the United States, but the idea was met with strong opposition on Capitol Hill, fueled by strong "not in my backyard" sentiment around the country.

In a Congressional revolt, lawmakers from both parties slashed funding for the closure of the Guantanamo facility, saying the administration had failed to provide an adequate plan to do so.

The American unwillingness to accept detainees on its soil soured the prospects of sending detainees to some European countries, in particular Germany, which asked why it should take in detainees if the United States was unwilling to do the same.

Yet on Monday the United States and European Union signed an agreement that outlined broad steps to help close the facility, including endorsing European countries willing to take in detainees.

Since then, Italy has said it would take in three detainees and Spain has told U.S. officials it would accept four. Separately, the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau agreed to take in a number of Uighurs, perhaps all 13 that remain in detention.