EU seals deal on Guantanamo inmates

(LUXEMBOURG) - European Union nations agreed Thursday to let in some former Guantanamo inmates under strict conditions, backing US President Barack Obama's efforts to close the notorious "war on terror" prison.

At talks in Luxembourg, EU interior ministers agreed individual countries could host detainees but may be forced to place them under surveillance and restrict their movement.

A compromise was reached after Austria, Germany and Italy stood firm against allowing any inmates to roam freely in Europe's 25-nation Schengen zone, where official passport controls have been dropped.

It obliges nations to undertake "consultation and thorough information sharing" with their neighbours before accepting any former prisoners.

This, the text of their agreement said, would allow other countries "to take appropriate measures including measures that may temporarily affect freedom of movement if necessary."

"We have to be sure that (the detainees) pose no risk," German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble told reporters.

"If they do not pose any risk, we need to clarify why they cannot remain in the United States," he said. "If the Americans don't want them, then they have to explain to the Europeans why the rules are different for Europe."

On Saturday, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said that as there are no passport checks in Schengen, "we cannot permit ourselves the liberty of leaving people suspected of terrorism at liberty."

He said he was "not favourable to accepting these detainees in countries not having the legal means to keep them in prison."

Obama has said he would close the prison -- where people were detained often without charge or trial -- by January 2010 and had sought host states for dozens of the 245 inmates.

But national laws differ very widely among the 27 EU countries and they have struggled to define a common position on how best to help him, with none keen to be bound to host inmates held under such circumstances and for so long.

The decision in Luxembourg "will be good news for the United States because there will be an environment in which the EU will take some detainees," the EU's anti-terror tsar Gilles de Kerchove told reporters.

"This is important of course for the Americans in many respects," he said.

"If the EU and the member states help, that may have an impact on other players in the world," and they might follow the bloc's example, he said.

"It is important to help the president at this stage."

But in agreeing to accept some detainees -- those "cleared for release" by US authorities, the EU appears to have set aside some of its principles.

Normally, having been held in Guantanamo would not be reason enough to restrict someone's movement, and this would only be done based on reliable and specific evidence that someone poses a threat.

Officials say that no legal definition of this status exists and EU members disagree over exactly what it means, although experts concur that it usually means former detainees who the US authorities do not plan to prosecute.

Surveillance and movement restrictions also imply costs, and more could come through family reunification -- a pillar of European asylum policy -- should former detainees seek to have their loved ones follow them.

Officials say that negotiations between the EU and the United States are continuing on how much, if anything, Washington might pay towards their transfer and integration in Europe.

Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA)