Obama legal advisers draft plans for Guantánamo

The White House today challenged president-elect Barack Obama to make good on his campaign promise to close Guantanámo Bay saying "it's not so easy" to shut down the notorious detention centre. Hopes that Obama would move swiftly to dismantle the detention facility rose after the Associated Press reported today that his legal advisers were drafting plans to ship scores of inmates from the offshore prison to the mainland to stand trial in US courts.

Under plans drawn up by Obama's advisers, between 60 and 80 detainees would be put on trial in the US in a mix of civilian criminal courts and the court martial system. About 17 high-level detainees, such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would also go on trial but before a new version of a national security court - not the Bush administration's much criticised military tribunals.

The American Civil Liberties Union immediately called on Obama to ban torture and rendition as well as close down Guantanámo.