BERLIN — The U.S. and its allies must make sacrifices to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday in a high-profile appeal for Europe’s help.
Holder spoke to the American Academy in Berlin, not long after telling reporters that the United States had approved the release of about 30 Guantanamo detainees.
"The United States is ready to do its part, and we hope that Europe will join us — not out of a sense of responsibility, but from a commitment to work with one of its oldest allies to confront one of the world’s most pressing challenges,” he said.
There are currently 241 inmates at the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Holder spent the past several days privately asking European leaders in London, Prague and Berlin for help relocating detainees the United States wants to set free.
In answer to a question about Bush administration officials’ decisions to authorize tough interrogation techniques, Holder said he believed that many of them would, privately, admit to having made some mistakes in the pressure and worry that followed the 9/11 attacks.
Germany’s former justice minister, Herta Daubler-Gmelin, a fierce critic of former President George W. Bush, said Holder "made a very good impression. He’s very honest about this society in transformation in America.”
She expects Germany would eventually be one of the countries that accepts Guantanamo detainees.
The Bush administration had approved about 60 detainees for release. Holder aides would not say if the 30 he was referring to were part of that group.
by the associated press
Holder spoke to the American Academy in Berlin, not long after telling reporters that the United States had approved the release of about 30 Guantanamo detainees.
"The United States is ready to do its part, and we hope that Europe will join us — not out of a sense of responsibility, but from a commitment to work with one of its oldest allies to confront one of the world’s most pressing challenges,” he said.
There are currently 241 inmates at the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Holder spent the past several days privately asking European leaders in London, Prague and Berlin for help relocating detainees the United States wants to set free.
In answer to a question about Bush administration officials’ decisions to authorize tough interrogation techniques, Holder said he believed that many of them would, privately, admit to having made some mistakes in the pressure and worry that followed the 9/11 attacks.
Germany’s former justice minister, Herta Daubler-Gmelin, a fierce critic of former President George W. Bush, said Holder "made a very good impression. He’s very honest about this society in transformation in America.”
She expects Germany would eventually be one of the countries that accepts Guantanamo detainees.
The Bush administration had approved about 60 detainees for release. Holder aides would not say if the 30 he was referring to were part of that group.
by the associated press
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