Obama appoints Washington attorney as special envoy to close Guantanamo prison
Source: Raw Story
Obama appoints Washington attorney as special envoy to close Guantanamo prison
By Lona Panter
Monday, June 17, 2013 17:53 EDT
U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday chose high-profile Washington, D.C. attorney Clifford Sloan as the state department’s special envoy for closing the Guantanamo Bay prison.
In a May address, Obama pledged a renewed dedication to closing the prison, and filling the post, which has been vacant for six months, is an important step in doing so as the envoy has the primary responsibility of negotiating the transfer of detainees back to nations abroad.
Miami Herald reporter Carol Rosenberg told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that the appointment of Sloan was “a bit of a surprise.”
“People down here didn’t immediately recognize his name,” she said, “… and he’s not a career diplomat.”
Sloan’s appointment may have been an effort to lobby Capitol Hill on reducing restrictions which would allow detainees who were cleared for release in 2010 to be resettled in countries willing to accept the men, Rosenberg said.
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/17/obama-appoints-washington-attorney-as-special-envoy-to-close-guantanamo-prison/
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