WASHINGTON (AFP) – The White House said Monday that it had yet to reach a final decision about where to house the 229 "war on terror" suspects still held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.US officials are considering creating a special prison camp, with sites under consideration including the Fort Leavenworth, Kansas military prison, and a maximum-security prison in Michigan, The Washington Post reported.
Asked about the possibility of using Fort Leavenworth, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said: "I don't know the degree to which they've gotten into specific siting. And certainly no final decisions of any sort have been made."
Gibbs said the administration had "made progress" on resolving the complex issues linked to the possible transfer of detainees from the US naval base in southern Cuba to the United States, including "who can, and should be, transferred."
However, he insisted, "no final decisions on any of that have been made."
The Washington Post, citing unnamed US officials, said the new facility would be jointly run by the departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security, with each responsible for different inmates.
The site would include courtrooms for federal criminal trials and military commissions to prosecute terror suspects, a maximum security lockdown for prisoners held in indefinite detention and those serving out their terms and living quarters for detainees cleared for release but who have no country willing to accept them, the Post reported.
A government official told the newspaper that the site is one idea being considered by a task force looking into US detention policy, but has not yet reached the level of recommendation.
