A top US military official confirmed on Thursday that Guantanamo Bay is “prepared” to take in new VIP detainees, and is just waiting on the order to do so.
President Trump last month signed an executive order reversing Obama’s 2009 directive to close down the infamous terrorist prison.
According to a Military of Defense report, the reversal of Obama’s directive is so that high-profile detainees can be sent to the notorious prison in preparation for their trials before a US Military Tribunal.
Breitbart.com reports: “We have 41 detainees who are there right now. We are prepared to receive more should they be directed to us,” Admiral Kurt Tidd, who oversees the military’s Southern Command that includes Guantanamo, told lawmakers.
“As of today we have not been given a warning order that new detainees might be heading in our direction, but our responsibility will be to integrate them in effectively.”
US military officials have been openly discussing the fate of Islamic State group detainees, mainly foreign fighters, held by US-backed militias in northern Syria.
Guantanamo has not received any new inmates since 2008 but on the campaign trail, Trump vowed to load the facility with “bad dudes,” and said it would be “fine” if US terror suspects were sent there for trial.
During his State of the Union speech in January, Trump said IS captives would in “many cases” end up in Guantanamo.