Officials said the government will buy the Thomson Correctional Centre in northwest Illinois, which was completed in 2001 but has never been used because of a shortage of funds.
The decision has been months in the making, as the president has sought to close the controversial Guantanamo facility in Cuba to fulfill one of his major campaign promises.
“Closing the detention centre at Guantanamo is essential to protecting our national security and helping our troops by removing a deadly recruiting tool from the hands of al-Qaeda,” said a senior administration official.
“Today’s announcement is an important step forward as we work to achieve our national security objectives.”
Sources close to the White House said that between 35 and 90 detainees will be transferred from Gauntanamo, which has been a lightning rod for criticism of America’s conduct in campaign against terrorism. It is believed they will include detainees who are not yet facing trial, due to be transferred to another country, or scheduled to be sent home. They will be housed in a “super-max” security wing, while another 1,600 prisoners will occupy other parts of the complex.
Mr Obama has already admitted that he will miss a self-imposed January 2010 deadline for closing the facility, as his administration has struggled to find a way to deal with the 210 detainees still held there.
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said earlier this month that the administration is ready to transfer 116 detainees from Guantanamo, but it has proved difficult to find third countries to provide asylum to prisoners who would face persecution in their home countries.
The administration has also faced stiff opposition to bringing detainees to the US on the grounds of security, though it said last month it would transfer five prisoners accused of masterminding the September 11 attacks to New York City to face trial.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader in the Senate, said on Tuesday the administration had “failed to explain how transferring terrorists to Gitmo North will make Americans safer than keeping these terrorists off of our shores in the secure facility in Cuba”.
Earlier this year, Congress voted to bar the use of federal funds to transfer Guantanamo prisoners to the US unless it was for trial.
However, many Democrats have indicated they would support the president once he had a firm plan in place.
Despite the outcry from Republicans in Washington, in Illinois there has been cross-party support for using Thomson, chiefly because an estimated 3,500 jobs would be created.
Dick Durbin, a Democratic senator from the state, told MSNBC: “In northwest Illinois there is a bipartisan outcry in support of the federal government buying this prison that has never been open.
“We have a state with 11 per cent unemployment. We need these jobs, they are good jobs with good packages. This will be the most secure prison in the United States of America.”
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
