WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. military and Pentagon officials have asked the White House for a more permanent approach to detainees the government is not prosecuting.
"Since global war on terror is a long-term effort, it makes sense for us to be looking at solutions for long-term problems," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman. "This has been evolutionary, but we are at a point in time where we have to say, 'How do you deal with them in the long term?'"
Some 500 prisoners suspected of ties to terrorist groups are being held by the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but little is known about the CIA's captives, the Washington Post reported Sunday.
One proposal under consideration is the transfer of Afghan, Saudi and Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Bay to new U.S.-built prisons in their home countries. The prisons would be operated by those countries, but the State Department would monitor compliance.
Another proposal would have the Defense Department ask Congress for $25 million to build a 200-bed prison to hold detainees who are unlikely to ever go through a military tribunal for lack of evidence, officials said.
