Obama presents plan to close Guantanamo prison

US President Barack Obama has presented a long-awaited plan to close the controversial Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba.

Obama made the announcement in a televised address from the White House on Tuesday, seven years after he vowed to permanently shutter the prison.

"For many years, it's been clear that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay does not advance our national security. It undermines it," Obama said.

"This is about closing a chapter in our history. It reflects the lessons that we've learned since 9/11 -- lessons that need to guide our nation going forward," he added.

Obama had promised to close the Guantanamo Bay prison during the 2008 presidential election campaign, citing its damage to the US reputation abroad.

However, the president backed away on his campaign promise later on due to stiff opposition from Congress.

As many as 775 detainees were brought to the prison, which was set up after the September 11, 2001 attacks. There are 91 detainees left at the prison.

Washington says the prisoners are terror suspects, but has not pressed charges against most of them in any court. Many detainees have been on hunger strike for months to draw attention to their deteriorating conditions.

The Obama administration has transferred most detainees to other countries, but there is a small number of detainees who the administration says it would like to detain in a US facility for national security reasons.

The Pentagon has proposed transferring the remaining prisoners to their home countries or to US military or civilian prisons.

According to US officials, the Pentagon plan would call for sending detainees, who have been cleared for transfer, to their homelands or third countries and bringing the other detainees to US soil.

The Pentagon has already sent assessment teams to some facilities to see if they could be used as maximum-security prisons to house detainees.

These facilities include a high-security federal prison in Florence, Colorado, a military jail at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and the Naval Consolidated Brig at Charleston, South Carolina.

But the Republican-controlled Congress is deeply opposed and expected to block the move.

"This plan deserves a fair hearing, even in an election year," Obama said Tuesday.

"The plan we're putting forward today isn't just about closing the facility at Guantanamo. It's not just about dealing with the current group of detainees, which is a complex piece of business because of the manner in which they were originally apprehended and what happened. This is about closing a chapter in our history," he said.

"Keeping this facility open is contrary to our values," Obama said. "It undermines our standing in the world. It is viewed as a stain on our broader record of upholding the highest standards of rule of law."

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