President Joe Biden wants to shut Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba: White House

The White House on Saturday said that US President Joe Biden wants to shut the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba for terror suspects, an unfulfilled campaign promised by former president Barack Obama, reported AFP. “That certainly is our goal and our intention,” spokeswoman Jen Psaki said while asked about the closure possibilities.

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Psaki said the government is working through the National Security Council to “assess the current state of play that the Biden administration has — well, we’ve inherited from the previous administration.”

In 2016, former president Donald Trump expressed his willingness to keep the Guantanamo prison open “fill it with bad guys.” The Republican did what he said.

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Some detainees at the prison were promised their release during Obama’s reign, however, it could not happen as Obama never succeeded in working out a compromise with Congress.

The military prison, which houses around 40 detainees, accommodates inmates linked to the US “war on terror” including Pakistani Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed terrorist behind the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Under the presidency of George W Bush, after the 9/11 terrorist attack, the US Army quickly built the detention centre on a naval base at the eastern tip of Cuba.