Trump plans to keep Guantanamo Bay open: report

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is preparing to reverse an Obama-era order to shut down the infamous military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a report by Politico, a political news website in Washington DC.

Trump is expected to sign an executive order to rescind the 2009 directive given by then-President Barack Obama intended to shut the camp, either during his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night or in the days surrounding it, the report said.



But Trump's order will be largely symbolic in nature, as Obama was never able to make good on his own directive by failing to transfer the Guantanamo Bay's prisoners and close the camp during last years of his presidency.

However, Obama did move nearly 200 Guantanamo inmates to the custody of other countries from the island. Only 41 detainees now remain in the facility, set up in 2002 as part of the US war on terror.

Last year, Trump said he would consider sending terror suspects who allegedly committed their crimes on US soil to the military prison.
But the Trump administration has no intention to expand the detention camp's population, according to the report.

Earlier this month, dozens of activists held a rally outside the White House to protest against the Guantanamo Bay prison, while urging an end to "indefinite detention."