Working out how to close the Guantanamo prison facility in Cuba, bring its inmates to justice, or find a place to release them is proving a political headache. Two hundred and fourty detainees are still awaiting trial or release.
 
How can Guantanamo suspects be brought to trial?

On taking office, US President Barack Obama ordered the suspension of the Guantanamo Bay military courts devised under former US President George Bush.

However, in a controversial move, Obama later decided to revive the tribunals as many suspects cannot be tried in US civilian courts. In some cases evidence is too sensitive to be revealed in a public courtroom. 

The modified military courts will now be subject to new rules to better protect the rights of the accused. Evidence obtained through the use of “cruel, inhuman and degrading” interrogation methods will now be refused.

Where will US hold convicted Guantanamo detainees?

Seven years after the prison's opening, some 20 of the 800 inmates or former prisoners have been charged with criminal offences. In order to close the prison, Obama hopes to jail some convicted Guantanamo detainees on US soil.

US Democrats maintain convicted detainees can safely be transferred to maximum security prisons in the US. Already, several terrorists, such as al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and British “shoe bomber” Richard Reid, have been imprisoned in one of the nation’s most secure jails in Florence, Colorado.

However, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Robert Mueller, has warned that Guantanamo inmates might be able to operate from behind bars.

Though high-risk prisoners housed in maximum security jails are usually held in solitary confinement for 23 hours per day, Mueller believes former Guantanamo inmates could encourage others to undertake attacks against the authorities.

Where can cleared prisoners go?

US authorities are struggling to find a home for 50 detainees who so far have been cleared for release according to the White House.

For instance, 17 Chinese Muslims, members of the Uighur ethnic group and held for years at Guantanamo, cannot be returned to China where they will face persecution, the US government said. China has been criticised for repressing Uighur religious rights. US Attorney General Eric Holder has said the detainees could be freed in the United States. However, many Republicans and other critics have raised the alarm that their release could put US citizens at risk.

In 2006, Albania accepted five Uighur Guantanamo prisoners. Today, only a couple of "third countries", including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, have agreed to accept former prisoners.

Can a solution be found for detainees in limbo?

In May, Defense Secretary Robert Gates admitted he did not know what to do with the 50 to 100 inmates who can neither be tried nor released. These are deemed too dangerous to be released and impossible to be brought to trial because of a lack of admissible evidence against them.

Obama has the choice of either keeping the Guantanamo detainees indefinitely under the legislation devised by his predecessor, and face sharp criticism from human rights groups, or push through a new legal framework for terrorism suspects.