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The United States is reportedly considering whether to detain international terrorist suspects at Bagram air base in Afghanistan after the closure of Guantanamo Bay.
U.S. engineers repair the runway while a C-17 cargo plane takes off from Bagram Air base in Afghanistan Photo: AP
The idea is being considered because without Guantanamo Bay, which President Barack Obama has pledged to shut, it has to either put suspects through its own court system or hand them over to foreign governments.
"No one particularly likes any of the choices before us right now, but Bagram may be the least bad among them," a senior defence official told the Los Angeles Times.
Any decision to expand the existing detention facility at Bagram would be expected to draw heavy criticism from allies and human rights groups.
Bagram currently holds around 800 prisoners, the vast majority captured in Afghanistan.
Control of the prison is due to be handed over to the Afghan government in January, but that would have to be delayed if the US decided to use it to hold foreign terrorist suspects captured elsewhere.
Any use of Bagram for the same purpose as Guantanamo Bay would have to be approved by Mr Obama.
Some senior figures, including Gen Stanley McChrystal, the commander of Nato troops in Afghanistan, are said to be opposed to the idea, believing it could be used as a propaganda tool by the Taliban.
Bagram air base in Afghanistan 'could be new Guantanamo' - Telegraph
U.S. engineers repair the runway while a C-17 cargo plane takes off from Bagram Air base in Afghanistan Photo: AP
The idea is being considered because without Guantanamo Bay, which President Barack Obama has pledged to shut, it has to either put suspects through its own court system or hand them over to foreign governments.
"No one particularly likes any of the choices before us right now, but Bagram may be the least bad among them," a senior defence official told the Los Angeles Times.
Any decision to expand the existing detention facility at Bagram would be expected to draw heavy criticism from allies and human rights groups.
Bagram currently holds around 800 prisoners, the vast majority captured in Afghanistan.
Control of the prison is due to be handed over to the Afghan government in January, but that would have to be delayed if the US decided to use it to hold foreign terrorist suspects captured elsewhere.
Any use of Bagram for the same purpose as Guantanamo Bay would have to be approved by Mr Obama.
Some senior figures, including Gen Stanley McChrystal, the commander of Nato troops in Afghanistan, are said to be opposed to the idea, believing it could be used as a propaganda tool by the Taliban.
Bagram air base in Afghanistan 'could be new Guantanamo' - Telegraph
