Europe wants to be Barack Obama's best friend, but it is split on whether to help the U.S. President-elect on what could be one of his first and most symbolic decisions -- closing the Guantanamo prison.Obama is expected to decide in his first days in office to shut down the prison for terrorism suspects at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, widely
As Tuesday's inauguration approaches, some are warming to the idea of taking in inmates. But others insist that this is Washington's responsibility only, splitting the EU just when it wants to appear as a strong and united partner for Obama.
"America created Guantanamo. It has to come up with the solution," German broadcaster Deutsche Welle quoted Austrian Interior Minister Maria Fekter as saying this week. "It is not up to the Netherlands to take in former detainees," a Dutch foreign ministry spokesman said, adding this was the responsibility of the country which has detained them.
Under the Bush administration, Washington tried in vain to persuade its allies, and in particular in the 27-nation EU, to take in inmates who cannot go back to their home country and who the United States does not want to accept either. They currently number 55-60, including Chinese Muslim Uighurs who Washington says cannot return to China because they would face persecution, together with Libyans, Uzbeks and Algerians also seen at risk.
The Guantanamo prison, known for
If European countries would now agree to take in detainees, "it would actually be a good example of a new approach in U.S.-EU relationship," a senior U.S. official in Brussels said. Some EU countries consider now is the moment for the bloc to drop its refusal to take in detainees who are not EU nationals or residents, as the president who initiated the "war on terror" leaves office and with his successor expected to say he will close the camp.
Portugal was the first to come out publicly in favour of the move in December, saying the EU should help Washington. Albania is the only country so far to have accepted some inmates with no links with the country, Human Rights Watch says. Britain said earlier this month that the United States would need help to shut the prison camp. It considers more EU countries should take in former residents, but refuses to say if it would agree to take in inmates with no link with Britain. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner wants Paris to take in inmates, a spokesman said on Friday.
But splits are also appearing within a same country. Social Democrat Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has spoken in favour of the move, but German media reported that Conservative Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is opposed to it. Others say they want to wait for Obama to spell out what he wants from his partners, or that they will study requests on a case-by-case basis. Diplomats stress the issue raises many complex legal questions.
Rights groups say it is critical for the EU to accept those inmates the United States does not want to take in and who cannot go to their home country, so that the camp shuts down.
"The U.S. administration created the problem and it is primarily the U.S. responsibility to close it," said Jennifer Daskal, senior counter-terrorism counsel for Human Rights Watch. "But unfortunately Guantanamo has become a problem for everyone as it has become part of the terrorists' recruiters narrative
European states have a moral responsibility to help close Guantanamo because some cooperated with the United States in its fight against terrorism, EU lawmaker Sophie In't Veld said, referring to accusations that some allowed secret rendition flights carrying terrorism suspects to land on their soil.
The EU will discuss the issue officially for the first time at a meeting of its foreign ministers on Jan. 26, but diplomats said there was not much to expect from that meeting. "It will be a stock taking exercise," an EU Presidency source said. "There is no common ground."