Obama maintains momentum with Guantanamo closure

President Barack Obama’s whirlwind start to his administration continued today with orders to close Guantanamo Bay and ban the use of torture.

The controversial detention camp will be shut within a year, Mr Obama decreed, while the “waterboarding” of terror suspects – a technique which simulates the sensation of drowning – will be outlawed.

Attention also turned to the US economy, with the President receiving the first of what will now become a daily briefing on the deepening financial crisis.

The move on Guantanamo Bay had been anticipated. Mr Obama called for the camp’s closure before taking office on Tuesday.

Yesterday, in one of the administration’s first acts, military trials at the camp were suspended for 120 days while a Presidential review is carried out.

Guantanamo Bay in Cuba was opened in 2002 as a centre to keep suspected terrorists.

It is estimated that around 245 men are currently being held at the US naval base, many of whom have been there for years.

The camp became a focus of criticism during the Bush regime. Many questioned the legality of detention without trial, while persistent allegations of torture damaged the US’s standing abroad.

As a result of today’s executive orders, US personnel will have to follow strict guidelines when it comes to interrogating suspects.

Guards, soldiers and security forces will be banned from the use of threats, coercion, physical abuse and waterboarding.

Announcing the orders, Mr Obama said: “We intend to win this fight (against terrorism), but we are going to win it on our terms.”

He added that it was the US’s human rights ideals that gave it “the strength and moral high ground” to effectively deal with the “unthinking violence” of terrorism.

But questions will now be asked about what will become of the detainees currently residing at Guantanamo Bay.

A taskforce has been set up to deal with the problem and other logistical issues relating to the closure of the base.

It has 30 days to recommend policies on the handling of detainees.

Earlier in the day, Mr Obama met with key economic advisers to discuss the deepening recession in the US. The White House later announced that a daily briefing on the situation would take place.

The Democrats are currently pushing forward with plans for a $825bn stimulus plan to revive the flat-lined economy.

The package of tax cuts and spending could be put before Congress as early as next week.

Today, a raft of negative data and announcements put further focus on plans to kick-start the economy.

Computer software giant Microsoft announced that it was to make 5,000 employees redundant. Meanwhile, unemployment benefit claims jumped by 62,000 in the week to January 17.

The man charged with turning the economy around, Tim Geithner, took one step closer to being sworn-in as Treasury Secretary today.

The Senate Finance Committee approved the President’s nominee by a vote of 18 to 5. Mr Geithner’s confirmation has been delayed after it emerged that he failed to pay $34,000 in taxes earlier this decade. He has since apologised for what he says was an unintentional mistake.

Today’s focus on the economy and Guantanamo Bay follows a first day of the presidency dominated by foreign affairs.

Yesterday, in one of his first moves in office, Mr Obama made a round of phone calls to leaders in the Middle East including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert.