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Washington (AFP) Dec 3, 2009 US authorities are ready to transfer 116 of the 211 detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to other countries, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a Senate hearing on Thursday. Officials were "in the process of identifying detainees that we believe can be transferred to other countries" and "we've identified I think 116 at this point," Gates said. He did not specify how many of the detainees identified would be freed abroad, and how many would be transferred pending trials in their home countries or third nations. Previously, the administration had said some 80 to 90 detainees at Guantanamo were eligible for release. Gates's comments are the first time the administration has said that more than half the prisoners remaining at Guantanamo as eligible for transfer from the facility located on a US naval base on the southern tip of Cuba. While President Barack Obama's administration has acknowledged it will not meet a self-imposed January 2010 deadline to close Guantanamo, Gates reiterated "the president has every intention of doing this and we will." "Principally the logistics of it have proven to be more complicated (than expected)," he added. There are now 211 detainees at Guantanamo, compared to 242 when Obama took office. The numbers have dropped as the administration has transferred detainees abroad, including to home countries and asylum nations. One detainee has committed suicide at the facility since Obama became president and another has been transferred to New York City where he faces trial before a federal court.
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