Plan to close Guantanamo has 13 U.S. prison sites, costs up to $475 million

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon plan to close the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, references 13 potential sites for detainees to be transferred to U.S. soil but does not endorse a specific facility, administration officials said on Tuesday. The cost of the transfer and closure would be $290 million to $475 million, an official told reporters on a conference call. Housing the remaining detainees in the United States would be $65 million to $85 million cheaper than at the Cuba facility, the official said, so costs would be offset within three to five years. Some 35 prisoners will be transferred from Guantanamo to other countries this year, leaving the final number below 60, officials said. President Barack Obama believes the United States can safely house the rest at a domestic facility, they added. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Susan Heavey)