Guantanamo prisoners may be relocated to US

The Obama administration is close to choosing a location in the US to transfer some detainees from the American military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an administration official says.

President Barack Obama has decided to shut down the facility on the 22nd of January 2010. He, however, has faced some legal, political and diplomatic difficulties that can make it difficult to meet that deadline.

"We are doing everything we can to close it by the date," the official said as Reuters reported. "We are in the final stages of locating a secure facility in the US where detainees can be held."

Republicans have criticized Obama's decision to close Guantanamo since the president has not yet selected a specific place for relocating the detainees.

The notorious prison is home to 223 detainees who were locked up on terrorism suspicion after the former Bush administration invaded Afghanistan in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks.

According to the president, some of the prisoners are considered too dangerous to be relocated, while those who have been cleared of the allegations against them will be transferred to their homes or to a safe place.

Worries remain in the U.S. community that over 200 prisoners convicted of terrorism are going to be housed on the US soil in prisons.