Guantanamo Solution Remains a Defense Department Priority, Spokesman Says

WASHINGTON --- A solution for closing down the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has vexed Defense Department officials and will remain a challenge during President-elect Barack Obamas administration, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said today.>> Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has advocated shutting down the facility since he was appointed two years ago. And while Obama has expressed similar interests throughout his campaign, both acknowledge it may take some time to accomplish, Morrell said during a Pentagon news conference.>> The challenge, of course, has been for this president and for this secretary: How do you close it? he said. There are a range of outcomes, a range of possibilities under discussion, and no one has settled on, at this point, any one option or solution to this thorny problem.>> Before U.S. officials close the facility, Gates wants to see legislation outlining where and how the detainees will be housed to ensure they dont return to violence, Morrell said. The host country must guarantee their safe treatment and provide for their confinement effectively, he added.>> There are some [detainees] we have identified as being ready to be transferred back to their homelands, he said. We are just looking for a willing recipient of them, a willing government to take them on so they don't return to terrorism.>> Another issue is recidivism. Morrell said 61 detainees who have been held and then released from Guantanamo Bay are suspected or confirmed to be returning to the fight.>> A prior report released by the Defense Department showed that 7 percent of detainees released from Guantanamo continued pursuing acts of terrorism. The new numbers reflect an 11-percent increase of known terrorist re-engagement, with 18 confirmed and 43 suspected, he added. However, he could not confirm specifics or locations of these attacks.