White House Rejects Pentagon's $600Mln Plan to Close, Relocate Gitmo

The White House has rejected a Pentagon-proposed initiative to close down the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention center and build an alternative in the United States, as it would require as much as $600 million, local media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to The Wall Street Journal’s Tuesday report citing administration officials, US President Barack Obama sent the costly plan back for revision last month after a meeting with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

Closing down the prison would require a one-time capital investment of $350 million in construction costs, according to the Pentagon estimations. The United States currently spends some $400 million on running the facility every year, while its US-based alternative would require less than $300 million annually, the media outlet reported.

In 2009, Obama pledged to close the notorious Cuba-based detention center amid mounting concerns about human rights abuses committed by US personnel against detainees.

The Obama administration has discussed plans to transfer the remaining Guantanamo detainees to prisons in US states such as South Carolina and Kansas, but some congressmen have expressed alarm about relocating the detainees to the United States.

In July, the White House announced it is finalizing the draft plan to close the infamous prison prior to Obama leaving office in January 2017.