Uruguay: Guantanamo prisoner transfer not imminent
Uruguay: Guantanamo prisoner transfer not imminent
By LEONARDO HABERKORN
09/01/2014 3:02 PM
| Updated: 09/26/2014 2:50 AM
A plan to resettle six men held at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo in Uruguay is still being negotiated and is unlikely to occur before upcoming elections in the South American country, an official said Monday.
The Pentagon had given the U.S. Congress a legally required 30-day notice in July that it intended to transfer the six long-held men for resettlement, suggesting it may have been imminent after months of delay. But presidential spokesman Diego Canepa said undisclosed issues had yet to be resolved.
"I don't think they will be resolved within the next two to three months," Canepa said.
Presidential and legislative elections are scheduled for Oct. 26 with a possible presidential runoff on Nov. 30. Mujica, who is not running for re-election, has said he decided to offer to resettle the six prisoners as a humanitarian gesture but polls suggest a majority of people in Uruguay, a country with relatively few Muslims, do not support the transfer.
Canepa denied a report in The New York Times that Mujica had asked the U.S. to postpone the transfer because it would be risky before the election. The spokesman told reporters that there was never a fixed date to postpone in the first place.
More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article1986085.html#storylink=cpy
