WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is expected Tuesday to make a final push to close the controversial US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, hoping to honor a glaringly unfulfilled campaign promise.
With less than a year left in office, Obama will unveil options for closing the detention center -- located on a US base in southeastern Cuba -- in a statement at 10:30 am (1530 GMT), according to White House officials.
Around 90 suspected jihadists remain at Guantanamo, a prison that once housed about 700 inmates at its peak and has become synonymous around the world with torture, indefinite detention and orange jumpsuits.
Obama has pushed for Guantanamo's closure since taking office in 2009, but his efforts have been thwarted by Republican lawmakers, many of whom see it as a useful tool in combating terror. Obama says the opposite is true, and that the facility feeds into anti-US, jihadist propaganda.
Obama also has faced opposition from within his own administration, with the Pentagon accused of slow pedaling transfers and overstating closure costs.
Details of Obama's plan are unlikely to be revolutionary.
He has long argued that many Guantanamo prisoners should be transferred overseas and some should be tried by military courts.(AFP)