Gitmo releases followed undisclosed high-level Obama meeting

President Obama summoned senior administration officials to the White House to vent frustration over the pace of efforts to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, according to a report by The Associated Press.

{mosads}Last month’s meeting, which was not publicly disclosed, preceded the transfer of a dozen prisoners into the custody of foreign governments.

Five additional transfers are expected before the end of the year. That will bring the prison’s population down to 131, with 63 of the remaining detainees already cleared for transfer.

The meeting was seen largely as a message to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who the White House believed was dragging his feet in signing off on guarantees that the five upcoming transferees did not pose a security threat, according to the wire service. There’s speculation that Hagel’s resistance played a role in the president’s decision to remove the Pentagon chief, who announced his intention to resign last month.

Obama reportedly stressed to the officials that he wanted action on efforts to shutter the controversial facility. The president pledged in his 2008 campaign that he would close the prison, and has come under fire from critics on the left for failing to achieve that goal.

Obama has been partially stymied by Congress, which has repeatedly inserted provisions into spending bills prohibiting the administration from transferring the terror suspects to U.S. soil. Similar language is included in the “cromnibus” unveiled by House appropriators earlier this week, and the White House has indicated that it will not veto the bill over the provisions.

“We’re going to evaluate the whole package,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said, acknowledging that “in the past, we have gone ahead and signed legislation that included this language.”

But the president also faces a tough diplomatic task in finding a home for many of the detainees cleared for transfer. Because of the presence of al Qaeda in Yemen — the origin nation of many of those cleared for transfer — the U.S. must find alternative hosts for the detainees.

Obama was asked about his efforts to close the prison while doing holiday shopping at a Washington bookstore the weekend after Thanksgiving.

“We’re working on it,” Obama said. “Any other issues?”