Obama vows Guantanamo veto

The new legislation presents a major roadblock in Democratic President Obama's stated desire to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. It was narrowly approved 14-12 on Thursday by the Senate's Armed Services Committee, which is chaired by Senator John McCain. Fourteen of the committee's 26 members are Republicans.

Obama promised during his original 2008 presidential campaign to close the military detention facility, but his efforts have been blocked in the years since by congressional Republicans and some Democrats.

"Our position is that the continued operation of Guantanamo Bay weakens our national security and must be closed," said Obama spokesman Eric Schultz. "We believe this bill puts more constraints on a process that should be actually working faster. And so we oppose this legislation and the president would veto it."

The legislation suspends the transfer of high- or medium-risk terror suspects from Guantanamo to the United States or other countries during Obama's final two years in office. It also prohibits transfers to Yemen for the next two years and repeals current rules that allow low-risk prisoners to be moved to third countries.

Many of the 122 prisoners currently in Guantanamo are from Yemen, a site of major instability in recent weeks. The US evacuated its embassy there earlier this week, with several other countries following suit. Fifty-four Guantanamo prisoners, including 47 Yemenis, have been approved for resettlement.

jr/msh (Reuters, AP)