While the decision of President Barack Obama to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay Cuba, and end the practice of interrogation techniques that violate international law, made front page news throughout the United States, press reaction in the Middle East was far less extensive — but generally favourable. One reason is that, while in the United States, Obama’s actions topped all other news on Jan. 22, the day he signed his landmark executive orders, the attention of most of the Arab world was still riveted on Israel’s assault on Gaza. Nonetheless, the Guantanamo story was addressed in news reports or editorials by most of the major media Muslim countries, and many government spokespersons and human rights advocates spoke out on the subject.

Several years ago, Saudis were second only to Yemenis as the second largest group of detainees at Guantanamo. According to a Saudi human rights lawyer, at least 13 Saudi families are still awaiting freedom for relatives detained there. Similar views were also expressed elsewhere. In an editorial, the News of Pakistan welcomed what it called “Barack Obama’s quick decisions on Guantanamo,” and said “they should act as a step that aids him in his hopes to establish a new relationship with the Muslim world.” In Indonesia, the media quoted Makarim Wibisono, a former Indonesian ambassador to the United Nations, as saying that Obama’s call was “a good sign leading to the closure of the camp.”

But other Indonesians were critical of Obama’s failure to directly refer to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Israel’s military onslaught in Gaza in his inaugural address. Maskuri Abdilah, head of the Nahdlatul Ulama - Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation with some 60 million followers — said Obama dodged the one issue at the core of the Muslim world’s concerns. “It is very good that Obama wants to find a “new way forward” with the Muslim world but first he has to change US policy over Israel and the Palestinian conflict,” he told Agence France Press.

The Guantanamo order immediately suspended all military commission proceedings and ordered the closure of the Guantanamo detention facility within one year. It further directed the attorney general to lead a process of individual case reviews to determine which prisoners may be transferred to third countries and which detainees may be prosecuted in accordance with US law. The order put an end to the secret interrogation techniques authorised for use by the CIA, such as forced standing, forced nudity and exposure to frigid temperatures. It also ended secret CIA detentions and required that the International Committee of the Red Cross be given access to all prisoners in the custody of US intelligence agencies.

Where to send detainees who have already been cleared for release, and those found not guilty in subsequent trials, is one of the most contentious problems facing the Obama administration. There is considerable opposition in Congress to any of the detainees being released into the US. Thus far, other countries have been reluctant to take any of the prisoners, who have been described by former Defence Secretary Rumsfeld and other top Bush administration officials as “the worst of the worst”.Only Albania and Sweden have taken in a few inmates. — IPS