The U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is unlikely to close by the Obama administration's deadline of January 2010, two senior administration officials said late Friday.
U.S. military personnel walk a road at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in July.
They cited legal complications for the delay, but said they were still optimistic about shutting the detention facility for terrorism suspects soon.
The announcement represents a blow to the president, who signed an executive order and set the deadline with great fanfare during his first week in office.
During a signing ceremony at the White House on January 22, Obama reaffirmed his inauguration pledge that the United States does not have "to continue with a false choice between our safety and our ideals.
