US Asks Germany To Take Gitmo Prisoners

BERLIN — The United States has asked Germany to accept some Guantanamo prisoners when the facility is closed, the Interior Ministry said Sunday, confirming German media reports.

An Interior Ministry spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the ministry's policy, confirmed a report in Der Spiegel magazine that the U.S. has provided a list of names of prisoners it would like Germany to accept.

"There is a concrete request," the spokesman said, saying he could not provide any further details.

Der Spiegel reported, without citing sources, that the U.S. had asked Germany to accept 10 prisoners.

Top-selling Bild newspaper, meanwhile, reported the 10 were Chinese Muslims, known as Uighurs. It also did not cite sources.

President Barack Obama has ordered the military prison in Cuba shuttered in the next nine months.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at the end of April that the U.S. Justice Department is still trying to determine how many of the 241 prisoners in Guantanamo will be taken by other countries.

Also at the end of April, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder spent several days privately asking European leaders in London, Prague and Berlin for help relocating prisoners the United States wants to set free.

In Berlin, Holder said the United States had made decisions on a group of about 30 prisoners, but had not yet decided where it wants to send them.

Comments

[WarSkeptic]

I don't understand why the German's would jail our prisoners
Is there any evidence that these people are guilty of a crime?

[MideastDove]

Read an article of German jails a few years back. Pretty cool. Some live in nice apartment style lock ups, cook their own meals and get a liter of wine per man per day.

[Beowoof]

Whether these guys are in Guantanamo, Germany, or walking freely in their country of origin, they're just a few of the millions that are so anti-USA(esp. thanks to Bush/Cheney) that our security agencies and military must do the same job either way at keeping the nation safe. If we're so concerned about these inmates, let them out and follow them for a couple of years and find out their contacts, but we can't just jail indefinitely those who have hatred for our country.

[Oonagh]

C'mon guys, cheney, bushey, rummy, ... you need help on those estates of yours ... you wanted these guy, you brought them here, they are yours.

[duxguts]

Why on earth should Germany take these people who were picked up at random by mercenaries in the pay of the US government. Now it's becoming obvious that the vast number of the detainees were guilty of nothing except being in the right place at the wrong time. They were simply kidnapped.

The US government and the people (who voted in the government) have a moral responsibility to now do something for these prisoners. If they are sent to another country it's like sweeping them under the rug.

[Oonagh]

But now we made them terrorists.

[andyg]

They all for closing it, so they should take them.