A team of government officials has visited a prison in the northern state of Michigan which could host some detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an administration official said.
"This visit is intended only to gather information about the facility," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity Thursday.
"No decisions have been made about where to locate Guantanamo detainees, and multiple options are being considered."
The visit is part of efforts to find a place where some of the remaining 229 detainees can be housed together, at a site that would include a maximum security prison, a holding center for those waiting release to another country, and rooms where legal proceedings can be held.
The prison in Standish, Michigan, is expected to close soon due to insufficient numbers of prisoners, which would spell financial doom for an area already in the grips of high unemployment. Keeping it open could save 300 jobs.
President Barack Obama has ordered the "war on terror" prison, opened in Guantanamo Bay by his predecessor George W. Bush's administration, to be shuttered by January 22, 2010.
Source: AFP American Edition
