US Has Decided Fate of Half of Gitmo Prisoners

About a quarter of the 229 detainees at Guantanamo Bay will face trial, says Attorney General Eric Holder. Speaking to a Senate panel today, Holder said the US had decided the fate of about half the remaining prisoners, though he did not offer specifics, reports Reuters. President Obama plans to shut the facility next January, and the administration is working to transfer prisoners to other countries and possibly to prisons within the US.

"We've gone through about half of the detainees at this point," said Holder. Asked whether the figure of 25% seemed in the ballpark for the number who will go on civilian or military trial, he responded, "That might be about right." Obama has said that other prisoners will likely be held indefinitely by the US without trial, and Holder said their cases would be periodically reviewed. (More Eric Holder stories.)