President Biden has ordered a review of the future of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba that currently houses about 40 prisoners including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Reuters reported.
Closing the controversial prison, the site of interrogations that critics claimed amounted to torture, was both a campaign promise made by then-candidate Biden and a goal of his former boss, President Obama.
Citing two people familiar with the plans, Reuters said Mr. Biden may sign an executive action within weeks or months signaling his formal desire to close the prison at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
A spokeswoman with the National Security Council told Reuters it will work alongside other departments in the Biden administration as well as consult with Congress about its plans to shutter the Guantanamo prison.
Any moves to shut down Guantanamo will encounter legal challenges because the federal government is barred by law from moving any detainees there to U.S. prisons on the U.S. mainland.
Reuters says the Biden administration may look to other countries to accept the prisoners there and restart a parole-like program to determine if they continue to pose a threat to the U.S.