Germany Considers Taking Guantanamo Detainees

By DAVID CRAWFORD and THOMAS CATAN
Wall Street Journal

Germany's Interior Minister agreed to consider accepting former inmates from Guantanamo Bay -- a shift that could help the U.S. shut down the detention center for terrorism suspects -- as a Spanish judge said he was opening a criminal probe into inmates' allegations they were tortured by U.S. officials.

Germany's change of position came from Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who had resisted the idea, after a meeting Wednesday with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Mr. Holder also visited the U.K. and Czech Republic to lay groundwork for Guantanamo's closure.

President Barack Obama ordered the closure of the Guantanamo prison, which he has been criticized for its interrogation techniques. In a news conference Wednesday night, he called waterboarding torture and said that "whatever legal rationales were used, it was a mistake."

Separately, Spanish magistrate Baltasar Garzón began a formal criminal probe into allegations U.S. officials condoned the torture of Guantanamo prisoners.

(More here.)