PRESIDENT BARACK Obama will close the detention centre in Guantánamo Bay within a year, according to a draft order circulated in Washington yesterday, hours after the new administration ordered an immediate halt to war crime trials of the camp’s inmates.
Some of the estimated 245 detainees now in Guantánamo would be released, according to the proposal. Others would be transferred elsewhere and put on trial under conditions yet to be established.
“The detention facilities at Guantánamo for individuals covered by this order shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order,” says the draft, obtained by the Associated Press.
Within hours of taking office, Mr Obama ordered an immediate halt for at least 120 days to the Bush administration’s military commissions system for prosecuting detainees at Guantánamo.
The US has sought for months to persuade allies to accept Guantánamo detainees who could face persecution if repatriated to their home countries.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern yesterday signalled a softening of State opposition to accepting such detainees, noting that Mr Obama’s decision to suspend military trials at Guantánamo had created “a new context”. Mr Ahern said Ireland would now be prepared to resettle Guantánamo detainees if there was a common European Union approach.
On his first full day as US president, Mr Obama called Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian and Jordanian leaders, telling them he would engage actively in the pursuit of peace in the region from the beginning of his administration.
“In the aftermath of the Gaza conflict, he emphasised his determination to work to help consolidate the ceasefire by establishing an effective anti-smuggling regime to prevent Hamas from rearming, and facilitating in partnership with the Palestinian Authority a major reconstruction effort for Palestinians in Gaza,” press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
Mr Obama is expected to ask former senator George Mitchell, who helped to broker the Belfast Agreement in 1998, to take on the role of Middle East envoy.
The new president announced yesterday that senior White House staff would accept a pay freeze, as he unveiled tough new ethics rules for his administration and promised a new era of transparency.
“However long we are keepers of the public trust, we should never forget that we are here as public servants, and public service is a privilege,” Mr Obama said.
Mr Obama issued new instructions on how to interpret the Freedom of Information Act, promising neither he nor any former president would be allowed to withhold information without approval of the attorney general and White House counsel. “Starting today, every agency and department should know that this administration stands on the side not of those who seek to withhold information but those who seek to make it known.”
After a night of celebrations, the president and first lady Michelle Obama attended a prayer service at the city’s National Cathedral.
On Capitol Hill, senators questioned New York Federal Reserve chairman Tim Geithner, Mr Obama’s nominee as treasury secretary. Mr Geithner apologised for failing to pay his full taxes while working at the International Monetary Fund.
Last night Hillary Clinton won Senate approval as secretary of state and the White House was confident that Mr Geithner, too, would soon receive the Senate’s backing.