The US is determined to close down the Guantanamo Bay terrorist detention centre and the Administration is looking into various decisions that can be taken in this regard, the White House has said.
Press Secretary Jay Carney said yesterday that there are a number of things that the Obama Administration can do in this regard, addning that President Barack Obama is determined to see closure of the detention centre.
The Congress, however, is against the closure and is opposing any move in this regard.
"One of the options available to us that we're examining is reappointing a senior official at the State Department to renew our focus on repatriating or transferring detainees that we determine can be returned to their home countries or third countries," Carney said.
"We will also work to fully implement the periodic review board process which has not moved forward quickly enough, and we will continue to work to get that implemented so that it is up and standing," he said.
The White House official said there are obstacles being thrown up by Congress, including their refusal to provide the funding that would allow to transfer detainees to incarceration facilities here in the US.
"They have circumscribed our ability to take action on this front in other ways. So we have to work with Congress and try to convince its members that the overriding interest here in terms of our national security as well as our budget is to close Guantanamo Bay," he said.
