US urges EU to receive Guantanamo detainees

BRUSSELS - The US has urged the European Union (EU) to take over some of the detainees who would be freed from its Guantanamo Bay facility, officials said.

Information on each of such detainees would be provided, US officials said.

EU Freedom and Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot said a framework would be worked out with the US government for handing over the detainees.

Currently, there are 240 prisoners of various nationalities lodged in Guantanamo. The US has said 60 of the detainees could be freed.

Nearly a dozen EU member states, including Spain, Portugal, France, Germany and Finland, among others, expressed their willingness to receive the Guantanamo detainees.