When will Obama close Guantanamo?

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Source: CCTV.com | 01-21-2009 14:41

Guantanamo has been a hot potato issue for George W. Bush and now it's being left to his successor.

The issue is likely to be at the top of the administration's agenda right after Barack Obama's inauguration.

Detainees at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (AFP/DoD/File/Shane T. Mccoy)

An executive order to shut down the detention camps is expected during his first week in office, and maybe on Obama's first day. Our correspondent in the US, recently paid a visit to the naval base where the detention camps are located.

It's heaven and hell all in one. With its golden sunshine, white sand, green palm trees and blue water, Guantanamo would make an ideal holiday resort if not for what goes on behind the heavily-guarded walls.

Since 2002, the naval base has been used as detention center for suspects captured by US forces in its widely-fought campaign against terrorism. The base houses nine camps, with Number Five specifically holding the so-called “die-hards.”

However, during this visit, closely escorted media staff were denied access to all of the camps except for one---the deserted X-Ray Camp. Now overgrown by tall wild grass, X-Ray was the first detention facility built in Guantanamo to house 20 “enemy combatants” from Afghanistan in January 2002.

Harold Nance, US Soldier, said, “The reason to allow those pictures to be released was because the primary purpose was to show our country in the world that we're doing something about to win terrorism.”