Next haven for Gitmo detainees: Spain?

Earlier this month, members of the European Union (EU) agreed to a framework allowing individual states to take in Guantanamo prison detainees. Despite reluctance from some countries like Germany, Italy reached a deal with the White House on Monday to take in “three specific inmates.”

Reports out of Spain, in the meantime, claimed that the Iberian country could take up as many as four detainees from the controversial prison camp:

The United States has asked Spain to take four inmates from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and Madrid will study the request case by case, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said on Wednesday.

"We will study each case one by one and respond once we understand the implications of the decision and in what way we can help the United States close Guantanamo," Moratinos told a news conference.

"There may be more cases presented in the future," he said.

According to Spanish daily El Pais, officials in that country are negotiating who would pay for the detainees’ security. Furthermore, the paper said that the transferred prisoners would most likely be Syrian and Turkish and that they would have freedom of movement within Spain.

France, Ireland, and Portugal have previously expressed interest in taking in detainees.

Image- AFP
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Reuters, AFP, BBC News, USA TODAY