Panel said to recommend 40 to 50 Guantanamo prisoners for trial

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

A government task force has recommended that 40 to 50 of the 215 remaining detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility be tried in the U.S., according to an Obama administration official familiar with the matter.

Final decisions haven’t been made, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Some of those who will be put on trial in military or civilian courts may be announced as early as tomorrow, the official said in an interview today.

The decision on which detainees to try is one of the steps the administration is taking as part of its effort to shut down the prison in Cuba that has held suspected terrorists. Though President Obama’s administration wants to close the prison by Jan. 22, Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. has said meeting the president’s deadline will be difficult.

The administration has been reviewing the cases of the remaining detainees to determine who should be transferred to other countries, put on trial or held indefinitely.

Tracy Schmaler, a Justice Department spokeswoman, declined to comment.

The U.S. is securing commitments from other countries to accept additional detainees who have been cleared for transfer, the official said.

-- Bloomberg News