AP Sources: Ill. Prison to get Gitmo Detainees

In this Nov. 16, 2009, photo is the Thomson Correctional Center is Thomson, Ill. The federal government is evaluating the nearly vacant facility as a place to move detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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By Becky Ogann

Story Created: Dec 15, 2009 at 12:28 PM CDT

Story Updated: Dec 15, 2009 at 6:25 PM CDT

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House plans to announce later today that the government will acquire an underutilized state prison in rural Illinois to be the new home for a limited number of terrorist suspects held at Guantanamo.

It's an important step on the thorny path to closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.,

Administration officials as well as Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will make an official announcement at the White House.

Officials from both the White House and Durbin's office confirmed that President Barack Obama had directed the government to acquire Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., about 150 miles from Chicago.

A Durbin aide says the facility would house federal inmates and no more than 100 detainees from Guantanamo Bay.

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