Ireland Says May Accept Some Guantanamo Inmates

Ireland would be open to accepting inmates if there was an agreement at EU level with Washington on such a programme.

The Irish government signalled on Wednesday it would be open to taking in detainees from the U.S. prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said the priority U.S. President Barack Obama has given to closing Guantanamo created a "new context" to discuss the resettlement of detainees.

A spokesman for the minister said Ireland would be open to accepting inmates if there was an agreement at EU level with Washington on such a programme.

The Bush administration tried in vain to persuade allies, and EU nations in particular, to take in 55-60 inmates, of around 245 remaining detainees, who cannot go back to their home country and who the United States does not want either.

EU foreign ministers will discuss the issue at their next meeting on Jan. 26.

Switzerland, which is not in the European Union, said on Wednesday it is ready to consider taking in detainees if that helps shut Guantanamo down.