US President Barack Obama has the first time admitted that the US prison camp at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba will not close in January 2010 as originally planned.

President Obama set the deadline for closing the extremely controversial prison camp immediately after taking office. However, he said he was not disappointed that he would not be able to meet the one-year deadline, saying, "I knew this would be hard".
 

The US leader refused to name a new deadline for closing the detention facility. Some members of Congress are deeply opposed to closing the camp and many governors are reluctant to allow the prisoners to the transferred to penitentiarys in their states. Washington has also had enormous difficulty in persuading third countries to take former prisoners.