U.S. President Barack Obama will try to "frame" the contentious issue of how to deal with prisoners held at Guantanamo prison in a speech to be delivered Thursday, the White House said Wednesday, Xinhua reported.
"He will go through some of the decisions we have to make regarding how to close down Guantanamo," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told the regular White House press briefing.
However, people should not expect the president to offer a detailed plan on how to deal with some of the Guantanamo detainees, he said.
"The president hasn't decided where some of the detainees will be transferred," said Gibbs.
But he acknowledged that the lawmakers, which denied the president's request of 80 million U.S. dollars to close the prison within one year Wednesday, "need and deserve a more detailed plan. "
Instead of providing specifics, Obama will "frame" the issue, Gibbs said, and discuss how he'll reconcile the tension between liberty and security.
Analysts said the message the president will try to convey in his speech might well be: "Trust me."
However, that will be a tough sell, given the fact that the Congress and law enforcement officials are opposing relocating Guantanamo detainees to U.S. soil after the prison's scheduled closure next January.