Guantanamo unlikely to close in early 2010

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Legal complications likely will prevent the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from closing by January 2010, officials said.

The White House is making progress in finding countries to accept the remaining detainees, but a U.S. prison has yet to be designated for those deemed too dangerous to release, two unnamed senior administration officials told CNN in a story published Saturday.

The January 2010 deadline was set by President Barack Obama during his first week in office.

Republican critics of Obama's plan to close the prison said Guantanamo Bay remains the safest facility in which to keep suspected terrorists.

"Americans and a bipartisan majority in Congress will continue to reject any effort to close Guantanamo until there is a plan that keeps Americans as safe or safer than keeping detainees in the secure detention center," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told CNN said in a written statement.