Although the White House says no decision is imminent, the Associated Press is reporting that the Bush administration is close to shutting down the island prison and transferring the detainees to military facilities inside the U.S., where they could face trial. The vice president and attorney general have previously shot down any attempt to close Gitmo, but anonymous sources say a consensus for closure is building.


AP:

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is nearing a decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detainee facility and move its terror suspects to military prisons elsewhere, The Associated Press has learned.

Senior administration officials said Thursday a consensus is building for a proposal to shut the center and transfer detainees to one or more Defense Department facilities, including the maximum-security military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where they could face trial.

President Bush’s national security and legal advisers had been scheduled to discuss the move at a meeting Friday, the officials said, but after news of it broke, the White House said the meeting would not take place that day and no decision on Guantanamo Bay’s status is imminent.

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