Gates: Guantanamo Not Likely to Be Closed

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the prospects of closing Guantanamo Bay are very low, and it has become harder to release detainees because he has to certify they will not be a danger.

Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday that the U.S. has not been particularly good at predicting which detainees will return to the battlefield when they are released.

He says that if naval prison in Cuba is closed he does not know where the U.S. would send combatants who are captured somewhere other than the warfronts. He says they could be sent to their home government or brought to the U.S., but it would be a challenge.

The Pentagon says about 25 percent of those released from Guantanamo return to battle.