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Senate Dems to cut $80 million for closing Guantanamo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats on Tuesday moved to cut $80 million earmarked for closing the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, a fresh setback for President Barack Obama's efforts to move beyond the Bush administration's anti-terror policies.

Backpedaling after intense criticism from Republicans and even some Democrats, the White House acknowledged it needed to submit a plan dealing with the 240 terrorism suspects being held at the prison on a U.S. naval base in Cuba.

Obama has pledged to close the prison by early 2010 and asked that $80 million be included in pending legislation that would fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That measure is expected to pass Congress in the coming days or weeks.

"The president and Congress will work together on a timeline for a renewed request for whatever resources are needed," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. "The president still believes it is in our national interest to close Guantanamo Bay." ad_icon

Obama plans to give a speech on Thursday to further detail his policy on the prison and anti-terror tactics after criticism from rights groups that he has flipped on key promises like ending military tribunals for the detainees and releasing abuse photos.

The Guantanamo prison is perhaps the most visible symbol of President George W. Bush's legacy and the arguments over U.S. anti-terror policy threaten to become a distraction for Obama as he seeks to focus on efforts to fix the ailing economy.

"Every administration makes mistakes. They made mistakes by the way they are handling it and now they are trying to fix it," said Senator John McCain, Obama's 2008 presidential foe.

McCain said he would try to help the administration fix it but, "they dug themselves a very deep hole."

While the Pentagon said it would work on a blueprint for swiftly closing the prison, spokesman Geoff Morrell questioned if that could be done. "Without funds for this purpose, most any option will be exceedingly difficult to pull off," he said.

The Senate will likely vote on Wednesday on an amendment to slice out the $80 million and bar using any money through September 30 to transfer, release or imprison any of the detainees in the United States, according to congressional aides.

The war bill also includes other controversial provisions like providing up to $108 billion to the International Monetary Fund as it tries to help countries weather the economic storm.

Senate Democrats initially included the money in the $91.3 billion war funding bill, but barred the administration from moving detainees to U.S. soil and fenced off $50 million until the administration provided a plan for dealing with them.

But they backed off amid criticism that there was no plan for dealing with the detainees and fears any move to bring them to U.S. soil could complicate efforts to prosecute them.

"The feeling was at this point we were defending the unknown. We were being asked to defend a plan that hasn't been announced," said Richard Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat.

Some Republicans have also insisted the prison stay open.

"It has appropriate courtrooms for the military commissions that we established a couple of years ago at the direction of the Supreme Court. No one has ever escaped Guantanamo," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

The Senate version moves closer to legislation approved in the House of Representatives, which approved a $96.7 billion war funding bill last week that also rejected Obama's funding request and set limits on releasing them. Differences will have to be resolved before the legislation can go to Obama for his signature.