Obama Warned by FBI on Freed Guantanamo detainees

The head of the FBI has warned US President Barack Obama there would be risks involved in bringing Guantanamo detainees to the United States.

Earlier the Senate voted overwhelmingly to block the transfer of detainees, also denying Mr Obama the $US80 million ($103 million) he asked for to close the prison.

FBI director Robert Mueller has voiced his concerns about moving some of the 240 suspected terrorists into the United States, even if they are deemed to be no longer a risk and have been set free.

"The concerns we have about individuals who may support terrorism being in the United States run from concerns about providing financing to terrorists, radicalising others, the potential for individuals undertaking attacks in the United States," he said.

"All of those concerns relevant to an individual comes into the United States from whatever source."

Mr Mueller concedes that detainees are unlikely to escape from the so-called "supermax" jails in the United States.

"If you're talking about physical danger, in terms of being able to escape and undertake an attack - no," he said.

But he says the Guantanamo detainees could still pose a threat.

"I will caveat by saying that in gang activity around the country, using it as an analogy, there are individuals that are in our prisons today, as I think you and others are familiar, who operate their gangs from with inside the walls of prison," he said.

For weeks Republicans have been whipping up outrage against Guantanamo detainees coming to the US, and today Democrats joined them in the Senate in voting to block the transfer of any prisoners to the US.

They also denied Mr Obama the money he asked for to close Guantanamo down by his self-imposed deadline of January 22, 2010, leaving it unclear if that timeframe is now in jeopardy.

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein says it is fear-mongering.

"More than 100 terrorism cases since the beginning of 2001 have resulted in convictions," she said.

"The individuals held at Guantanamo pose no greater threat to our security than these individuals convicted of these crimes who are currently held in prison in the United States."

But Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison says Mr Obama has not come up with a viable alternative to Guantanamo.

"Expediting closure of this detention facility without absolutely ensuring that American lives would be safe would place misguided foreign policy goals above the protection of our homeland and our people," she said.

The White House has promised Mr Obama will reveal details of his plans for the detainees in a speech Thursday (local time) on national security, while the Pentagon has said politicians were making it "exceedingly difficult" to meet his deadline.

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