Top US justice officials visit Gitmo

WASHINGTON: Top US justice and intelligence officials are to visit the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on Friday amid signs the Trump administration may use it to house new "war on terror" detainees.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, are visiting the prison to familiarize themselves with current operations, officials said. The notorious prison, which former president Barack Obama had sought unsuccessfully to close, has had no new inmates in more than a decade. But on taking office, President Donald Trump signaled he wanted an active camp ready to accept "some bad dudes" that might be captured in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere.

"Keeping this country safe from terrorists is the highest priority of the Trump administration," Justice Department spokesman Ian Prior said in a statement. "Recent attacks in Europe and elsewhere confirm that the threat to our nation is immediate and real, and it remains essential that we use every lawful tool available to prevent as many attacks as possible."

Coats’ spokesman Timothy Barrett said the purpose of the trip "is to gain an understanding of current operations by meeting with the people on the ground."