Guantanamo row

Members of the opposition Social Democrats and the Green party in Germany have urged Chancellor Angela Merkel to agree to accommodate some prisoners due for release from the controversial US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during her upcoming visit to the United States.

Her visit comes at a time when her cabinet has been debating whether Germany should accept released Guantanamo inmates. The topic is expected to figure during the chancellor's meeting with President Obama.

The deputy parliamentary floor leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Olaf Scholz, told Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper that "Germany should not leave the American president alone" in this matter.

"If Chancellor Angela Merkel goes to Washington empty-handed, it would be a personal affront to the US president," Greens leader Claudia Roth told the newspaper.

The federal government "should not bow to the wishes of the hard-liners” in Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and leave Obama out on a limb where the Guantanamo prisoners issue is concerned, she said.

The CDU and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), are divided over the issue. CDU Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière has called for a serious examination of the matter while states headed by the CDU and the CSU have said they will not accept any prisoners.

Growing debate

The debate over the Guantanamo prisoner issue intensified in recent weeks after it emerged that Berlin resumed talks with Washington over the possibility of accommodating released prisoners.

The German news magazine Der Spiegel reported last month that a delegation from Berlin visited Guantanamo recently to meet with several inmates, including a Palestinian, a Jordanian and a Syrian who are likely candidates for resettlement.

The report also said that the inmates had been interviewed by German intelligence and police officials to determine their suitability and whether they would pose any risks if they were taken in.

President Obama had pledged to close down the Guantanamo camp by January this year, but some 200 detainees continue to be held there because finding them new homes is proving a major challenge. His administration has been reluctant to send released prisoners back to their home countries because of fears for their safety.

Amnesty criticizes Germany

Meanwhile, the head of the German branch of human rights watchdog Amnesty International, Monika Lueke, has criticized Germany's response to Obama's call for Europe to accept freed Guantanamo prisoners.

"German stands almost at the bottom of the list in Europe where accepting Guantanamo prisoners is concerned," Lueke said.

She added that other European countries have clearly understood that they "make a substantial contribution to increasing their own security" by accepting freed inmates. The continued existence of the Guantanamo camp provided "food for further terrorism," she added.

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Editor: Kyle James