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| U.S. to Send 2 at Guantánamo Back to Algeria, Saying Security Concerns Are Met | U.S. to Send 2 at Guantánamo Back to Algeria, Saying Security Concerns Are Met |
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| WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced Friday that it was reviving the repatriation of low-level detainees from the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, which had dried up after Congress imposed strict limits on transfers. | WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced Friday that it was reviving the repatriation of low-level detainees from the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, which had dried up after Congress imposed strict limits on transfers. |
| The announcement comes as William K. Lietzau, the top Pentagon official dealing with detainees, is stepping down to take a private sector job, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials said the timing was a coincidence. | The announcement comes as William K. Lietzau, the top Pentagon official dealing with detainees, is stepping down to take a private sector job, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials said the timing was a coincidence. |
| The White House said it had informed Congress that it intended to return two detainees to Algeria under the terms of a statute that requires Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to certify that various security conditions have been met. | The White House said it had informed Congress that it intended to return two detainees to Algeria under the terms of a statute that requires Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to certify that various security conditions have been met. |
| “We are taking this step in consultation with the Congress, and in a responsible manner that protects our national security,” the administration said in a statement. “We continue to call on Congress to join us in supporting these efforts by lifting the current restrictions that significantly limit our ability to transfer detainees out of Guantánamo, even those who have been approved for transfer.” | “We are taking this step in consultation with the Congress, and in a responsible manner that protects our national security,” the administration said in a statement. “We continue to call on Congress to join us in supporting these efforts by lifting the current restrictions that significantly limit our ability to transfer detainees out of Guantánamo, even those who have been approved for transfer.” |
| The statement did not identify the two detainees. There are as many as five Algerians at the prison who were recommended for transfer by a task force in early 2010. In all, 86 of the 166 detainees remaining at the prison have been recommended for transfer if security conditions can be met. President Obama has recently sought to revitalize his administration’s effort to close the Guantánamo prison amid a widespread hunger strike. | The statement did not identify the two detainees. There are as many as five Algerians at the prison who were recommended for transfer by a task force in early 2010. In all, 86 of the 166 detainees remaining at the prison have been recommended for transfer if security conditions can be met. President Obama has recently sought to revitalize his administration’s effort to close the Guantánamo prison amid a widespread hunger strike. |
| Mr. Obama had pledged to close Guantánamo within a year of taking office and criticized the prison as overly expensive and a symbol used in terrorists’ propaganda. But his efforts have been strongly opposed in Congress, which in January 2011 imposed requirements that countries be capable of taking steps to control any former detainees and prevent them from terrorist activities. | Mr. Obama had pledged to close Guantánamo within a year of taking office and criticized the prison as overly expensive and a symbol used in terrorists’ propaganda. But his efforts have been strongly opposed in Congress, which in January 2011 imposed requirements that countries be capable of taking steps to control any former detainees and prevent them from terrorist activities. |
| Republicans have sought to portray Mr. Obama’s efforts to wind down operations at the detention center as soft on terrorism, and on Friday, Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, accused Mr. Obama of taking the risk of releasing detainees who might engage in terrorism, as some released detainees have done, “just to satisfy a political promise.” | |
| But Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, the chairwoman of the Intelligence Committee, praised Mr. Obama’s move, noting that the two had been “cleared for transfer years ago” and arguing that at an annual cost of $2.7 million to house each detainee, “it is in the national security interests of the United States to transfer these detainees to their home countries.” | |
| Mr. Lietzau, who will leave his position next month, was traveling to Guantánamo on Friday and could not be reached for comment. In an e-mail he sent to his staff at the Pentagon on Thursday, he said he had accepted a job as vice president and deputy general counsel for PAE, a government services company. | Mr. Lietzau, who will leave his position next month, was traveling to Guantánamo on Friday and could not be reached for comment. In an e-mail he sent to his staff at the Pentagon on Thursday, he said he had accepted a job as vice president and deputy general counsel for PAE, a government services company. |
| “I believe we have made enormous strides on behalf of the country,” he wrote. “Steadily and without fanfare, we have made principled decisions that support our forces and put in place credible policies that enhance our national security.” | “I believe we have made enormous strides on behalf of the country,” he wrote. “Steadily and without fanfare, we have made principled decisions that support our forces and put in place credible policies that enhance our national security.” |
| Mr. Lietzau has played a major role in shaping detention policies across two administrations. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when he was a uniformed lawyer for the Marine Corps, he served as an adviser in the creation of the first version of President George W. Bush’s system of military commissions trials. | Mr. Lietzau has played a major role in shaping detention policies across two administrations. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when he was a uniformed lawyer for the Marine Corps, he served as an adviser in the creation of the first version of President George W. Bush’s system of military commissions trials. |
| In the Obama administration, he has been the primary official shaping policies for “law of war” detention at the prison at Guantánamo Bay and Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. | In the Obama administration, he has been the primary official shaping policies for “law of war” detention at the prison at Guantánamo Bay and Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. |
| In that role, he has frequently defended prisoner-of-war-style indefinite detention without trial, saying it is a moral, lawful and humane part of warfare. His leading role within the administration in defending its continued use in the open-ended war against Al Qaeda has drawn fire from many of the same critics angry at President Obama for failing to close the prison at Guantánamo. | In that role, he has frequently defended prisoner-of-war-style indefinite detention without trial, saying it is a moral, lawful and humane part of warfare. His leading role within the administration in defending its continued use in the open-ended war against Al Qaeda has drawn fire from many of the same critics angry at President Obama for failing to close the prison at Guantánamo. |
| In May, Mr. Obama announced that he would appoint an “envoy” at the Pentagon to handle issues about transfers from Guantánamo — which has been part of Mr. Lietzau’s portfolio. Mr. Obama also announced a new envoy at the State Department for such issues, a position that had been vacant since January. The State Department has since appointed Cliff Sloan, a Washington lawyer, to the post; the Defense Department position remains unfilled. | |
| Mr. Lietzau had been offered a more senior policy role in the Pentagon that would have allowed him to retain authority over detention issues generally, officials said. But in his e-mail he told colleagues he turned it down to take the PAE job because he could not commit to staying in the proposed new role long enough for his eventual departure not to be disruptive. | Mr. Lietzau had been offered a more senior policy role in the Pentagon that would have allowed him to retain authority over detention issues generally, officials said. But in his e-mail he told colleagues he turned it down to take the PAE job because he could not commit to staying in the proposed new role long enough for his eventual departure not to be disruptive. |