Admiral Harbeson, the 10th commander of the camps since they were opened in January 2002, told The Independent that as a “ball-park figure” it would take his Guard Force six months to close Guantanamo. Asked if he had received an instruction to implement President Obama’s order, he replied: “No.”

On the closure operation he added: “Any movement of the detainees that we do will mean there are a lot of folks who go with them to ensure safety and security – [that means] medical personnel, regular security and interpreters. That’s the tail….”

He continued: “Once you do that, [and] the detainees are safely transported to different locations, then you come back to the infrastructure and the security aspect and the personnel who are here, turning off the lights, turning off the power…”