Hagel: White House pressured me to release Guantanamo inmates

Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the White House pressured him to increase the pace of releasing detainees from the US-run military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

"Not everyone at the White House agreed with me … on the pace of the releases," Hagel said in an interview with CNN aired on Friday.

The Pentagon chief added he was cautious in his approach in order to make sure the freed detainees did not return to the battlefield.

"Because I have the responsibility and I play my own game here," he said. "And that is because, by law, I am the one official in government charged with certification of release of detainees. I take that responsibility very seriously."

Despite pressure from the White House, Hagel defended the swap of five Taliban detainees from the Guantanamo prison in return for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl last May as the right move. "Absolutely it was the right decision... because we don't leave our troops behind."

The remarks came amid reports that one of the five freed inmates, handed over to authorities in Qatar, was making contact with Taliban associates in Afghanistan in an effort to rejoin the militancy.

The White House, however, rejected the reports.

"What I can say with confidence is this individual has not returned to the battlefield, this individual is not allowed to travel outside Qatar, and this individual has not engaged in any physical violence," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday.

US rejects Cuba call to return Guantanamo

Earnest also said that the Obama administration had rejected a call by Cuba to return Guantanamo Bay as part of the normalization of relations with the United States.

Cuban President Raul Castro made the demand in a speech on Wednesday. Cuba has long demanded the return of the land, saying the US is in violation of international law.

Restoring diplomatic ties “will not be possible while the blockade still exists, while they don't give back the territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo naval base," Castro said.

The US has maintained control of Guantanamo Bay since 1903. The territory contains the notorious detention facility, which was opened in 2002 to hold terror suspects captured during the so-called war on terror, as well as a large naval base.

US President Barack Obama "does believe that the prison at Guantanamo Bay should be closed down... but not the naval base", the White House said.

Obama had promised to close Guantanamo while running for president in 2008, citing its damage to the US reputation abroad.

The US has come under international pressure for the use of torture, including water-boarding and force-feeding of suspects at the notorious prison.

HRJ/HRJ

Related stories:

Americans call for Guantanamo prison closure Jan 12, 2015

Guantanamo prison is an 'outrage, insult' Jan 14, 2015

Guantanamo prisoner recounts ordeal Dec 14, 2014

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