The United States will send five men accused of plotting the Sept. 11 attacks, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, to New York to be tried in US federal court, a US official said on Friday. The decision is part of US President Barack Obama's push to close the controversial US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the men had been held, by Jan. 22, a target US officials have publicly admitted may be hard to achieve. Here are some facts about the prison, set up after the Sept. 11 attacks to detain terrorism suspects, the 215 people now held there, their possible fate and the political and diplomatic hurdles to prosecuting or resettling them. Who is being held at Guantanamo Bay? The 215 prisoners at the detention facility come from 25 countries and territories. The biggest subsets are 97 from Yemen, 24 from Afghanistan, a dozen each from Algeria and Saudi Arabia and 10 from Tunisia. Included are those accused of masterminding or playing key roles in the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked-plane attacks in New York and Washington such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh. Also detained are Abu Zubaydah, accused of being a senior Al-Qaeda planner, and Abdul Rahim Al-Nashiri, accused of masterminding the 2000 attack on the American warship USS Cole in Yemen which killed 17 US sailors and wounded 47. What will happen to the prisoners? At least five men accused of plotting the Sept. 11 attacks, including Mohammed, will be sent to criminal court in New York from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an Obama administration official said. Another group, including the accused mastermind of the 2000 attack on the USS Cole warship, will be tried in military tribunals, said a US official who declined to be further identified. The panels have recently been revamped by Congress, which has barred them from using statements obtained from harsh interrogations and made it harder for them to use hearsay evidence against suspects. Another group of detainees who have been cleared of any wrongdoing or connection to terrorism are expected to be released and sent to their home countries or elsewhere if they may face persecution at home. Finally, the Obama administration has said a small group could face indefinite detention without charge, however they would likely be able to challenge their confinement before a US judge. Why close the us military prison at Guantanamo Bay? Obama, his fellow Democrats and some Republicans believe the indefinite detention of prisoners at Guantanamo without charge and allegations that harsh interrogation techniques – viewed as torture – have sullied the United States' reputation and betrayed US ideals of justice and fair play. They also argue that the existence of the prison has served as a recruiting tool for anti-American militants who point to the indefinite incarceration of people who have never been accused of a crime as proof of US hypocrisy. However, many Republican politicians believe Guantanamo should remain open because it has the facilities to try the detainees on terrorism charges as well as imprison them. They also fear prisons and cities in the United States where detainees could be held would become targets for attack. Why is it so hard to close Guantanamo? There is deep reluctance among many US politicians to allowing the detainees to be freed into the United States, and Congress has barred the administration from doing this. US lawmakers have demanded Obama give them a detailed plan on how detainees will be prosecuted in the United States or released overseas. In particular, lawmakers want to know how security risks will be mitigated if they are brought to US soil and whether they will be granted legal rights that are traditionally accorded only to US citizens or persons legally in the country. Given the US resistance to taking in the detainees, many countries, including traditional US allies, are reluctant to accept Guantanamo Bay prisoners, arguing that the United States should take the lead in fixing a problem it created. The United States wants to ensure those who are released abroad do not join militant groups or commit attacks against US interests, as have a few of detainees previously released from Guantanamo. The United States also wants to make sure the released detainees are not mistreated on their return home. China has demanded the return of the remaining seven ethnic Muslim Uighurs cleared for release but the United States fears they will be persecuted so it is looking for another location. Fifteen other Uighurs have already been resettled, including in Bermuda and Palau. What are the risks to Obama's decision? Deciding where in the United States to try detainees is fraught with risks, including the possibility that the cities and prisons could become the target of attacks or that there will be a popular backlash within the communities. Some US lawmakers and local leaders in places like Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, have made it clear they do not want the detainees brought there. However, in economically depressed areas like Michigan some officials have said they would like their prison to be used because it would create jobs.
