Ireland to accept two Guantánamo detainees

As the Obama administration struggles to fulfill a pledge to close the Guantánamo Bay detention center in Cuba, the Irish justice minister, Dermot Ahern, said Wednesday that his country would accept two prisoners from the facility for resettlement, one of the few European nations to do so.

In a statement in Dublin, Mr. Ahern said the decision followed a visit to the camp by Irish officials last week. The agreement was confirmed Wednesday when Mr. Ahern met the newly arrived American ambassador, Dan Rooney, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.

Mr. Ahern said he had been the first European official to call for the closure of the camp.

“In making this decision I am conscious of the intention of the United States to close the center at Guantánamo Bay, in part by transferring detainees, no longer regarded as posing a threat to security but who cannot return to their own countries, to other countries willing to accept them.”
(Via NYT)