MADRID — The decision to shut down the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay was a dream come true for many Europeans, including anti-terrorism officials who have largely condemned the facility. But European officials acknowledge that dismantling Guantanamo could be something of a nightmare.
The foreign ministers of the European Union recently pledged to help President Obama keep his promise to shutter the prison on the coast of Cuba in a year. They offered to provide refuge for up to 60 inmates who could face persecution in their native lands. Spain, France, Italy and Portugal are among the nations offering to accept former detainees; Germany, Britain and others are reluctant.
Now Europe must confront thorny questions: Which detainees will go where? Should some be prosecuted or imprisoned, if that is even possible? Who pays for medical care, housing, surveillance? Who gets the blame if something awful happens?
The questions challenge a select fraternity of European investigators, diplomats and spies who know Guantanamo firsthand from visits to interrogate or repatriate detainees. These officials have had a conflicted relationship with the prison: They think its creation was a mistake that worsened radicalization in their countries, but they acknowledge that intelligence from Guantanamo helped them disrupt networks and detect threats.
Now they will play a central role in assessing the risks in Western Europe, where the lack of internal borders makes security concerns regional.
Some of the inmates pose little threat, officials said in recent interviews. But they described others as potentially dangerous veteran militants. And they cited another legacy of Guantanamo: wrongfully accused men whose imprisonment made them radicals.
"What happened in their heads during the past years?" said Alain Grignard, a Belgian federal police commander who has made half a dozen visits to Guantanamo. "They could be bitter because of the treatment. Or there are those who . . . will feel great pressure because of their aura as a Guantanamo veteran. Other extremists will want them to issue fatwas, discuss their experiences -- they will look to them as leaders."
Because of such fears, officials predict that the 27-nation European Union might look for alternative refuges for some Guantanamo veterans. They cite an agreement in which Albania accepted five Chinese Uighur Muslims who were released without charges in 2006.
