WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- Clifford Sloan will be the State Department's envoy tasked with closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Secretary of State John Kerry said.
"I've known and respected Cliff Sloan for nearly 10 years. His intellect and skill as a negotiator is respected across party lines, and he's served presidents Republican and Democratic with equal skill," Kerry said in a statement Monday of President Obama's intended appointment of Sloan.
Kerry acknowledged closing the Guantanamo Bay facility won't be easy, but "if anyone can effectively navigate the space between agencies and branches of government, it's Cliff," The Hill reported.
In his national security speech, Obama last month said representatives of the State and Defense departments would oversee detainee transfers back to Yemen. He also announced a lifting of the moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen.
Sloan served in the administrations of both Republican and Democratic presidents, The Hill said. More recently he was publisher of Slate magazine, legal counsel for The Washington Post's online operations, and a partner at Skadden Arps law firm.
