WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has virtually abandoned plans to resettle in the United States some detainees from the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, officials said, a recognition that the task had become politically impossible because of congressional opposition.
The shift came even as the administration announced Thursday that it had transferred six detainees from the prison, including four Chinese Muslims sent to Bermuda, as it tries to meet a one-year deadline for shutting down the controversial facility.
The administration had hoped to move some of the Chinese Muslims, known as Uighurs, to the United States as a signal to other countries that they were not dangerous. But the swift backlash forced the administration to reverse course.
"For now," a senior administration official acknowledged, releasing some Uighurs in the U.S. is "not doable."
The administration now is scrambling to find countries willing to accept the Uighurs, who have been held since 2002 and were ordered released by a federal judge last year.
Underscoring the importance of the transfer, White House Counsel Gregory Craig and a top American diplomat, Daniel Fried, flew to Guantanamo and accompanied the Uighurs as they boarded a plane for Bermuda.
But the transfer set off diplomatic objections, both unexpected and expected. America's close ally Britain expressed displeasure over the transfer to Bermuda, a British overseas territory. Less surprising was the reaction of China, whose officials reiterated that they wanted the Uighurs repatriated to stand trial for separatist activities.
Administration officials played down the talk of diplomatic backlash, and said moving the Uighurs was an important step toward shutting down Guantanamo.
"We want to close Guantanamo, not just talk about wanting to close it," said the senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The U.S. announced Thursday that besides the Uighurs, it also had transferred two other detainees. On Wednesday, the U.S. transferred Iraqi detainee Jawad Jabber Sadkhan to his home country, and on Thursday sent Mohammad Gharani to his home nation of Chad.
Earlier this week, the Pacific island nation of Palau said it also had agreed to take some Uighurs; and another detainee, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, was transferred to stand trial in federal court in New York.
Deadline nears
