Meeting US deadline to close Guantanamo 'tough': Gates
World
Meeting US deadline to close Guantanamo 'tough': Gates
Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged it will be tough to close the US prison at Guantanamo Bay by a January deadline set by President Barack Obama. But played down the importance of missing the deadline, saying he had supported setting the date as a way of pushing progress toward closing Guantanamo Bay, the US military prison in southern Cuba where 223 war on terror detainees remain. The Pentagon chief said he endorsed the decision to set a deadline during discussions in December with advisers when Obama was president-elect. Obama signed an executive order in his first week of office in January vowing to close the facility within a year. Gates said he was unsure of how many prisoners would remain at Guantanamo on January 22.
