Obama demands money for closure of Guantanamo base

U.S. President Barack Obama has asked Congress to demand to allocate funds for the elimination of the prison on the naval base in the United States in Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) and transfer of prisoners to other prisons.

The head of the U.S. administration in the Monday, November 4, held consultations with the special representatives of the State Department and the Pentagon - Clifford Sloan and Paul Lewis - the closure of military special prison, ITAR-TASS reported with reference to the press service of the White House.

"The President reaffirmed the intention to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and outlined his special envoy to support their work on the transfer of Guantanamo prisoners," - said in a statement spokesman.

There have also noted that the U.S. administration, "once again calls on Congress for the removal of restrictions" on these procedures.

Currently, the special prison at Guantanamo Bay, set up after the events of September 11, 2001, contained 164 people suspected of involvement in terrorism. About half of them can be transferred to other governments for further proceedings.

Obama has repeatedly affirmed the intention to give up a special prison of "too costly and ineffective." He signed an order to close it within a year almost immediately after the exercise of the powers of the U.S. President in January 2009, but Congress has blocked the decision.
Thus, the prison still exists, causing a sharp criticism of the United States from human rights groups.