Chancellor Angela Merkel is prepared to have Germany take in freedGuantanamo detainees despite having earlier refused US requests to do so, a magazine reported on Saturday.
Merkel wants Germany to "help the Americans," German weekly Focus reported, saying Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere delivered that message to a recent meeting of officials from the chancellor's Christian Democratic Union party.
The United States has most recently asked Germany to take in three detainees, reportedly a Syrian, a Palestinian and a Jordanian. It was not clear from the report how many detainees Merkel would be willing to accept.
De Maiziere along with local officials in Hamburg and the Brandenburg region have been looking at ways to facilitate detainees' return to normal life, including helping them find jobs and housing, Focus reported.
There are also concerns about their psychological state following years of detention. Several regional officials in Germany have opposed welcoming former Guantanamo detainees as long as the United States refused to allow them on its territory, the magazine said.
Germany last year refused a request to take in two ex-detainees after having already rejected a proposal to accept Chinese Uighur prisoners.
