A GUANTÁNAMO Bay detainee's lawyer is in discussions with the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs about the possibility of allowing him to settle in Ireland.
If the Government agrees, it will become the first EU state to accept a Guantánamo detainee who is not one of its citizens.
Oybek Jamoldinivich Jabbarov, a 30-year-old Uzbek national who was living as a refugee in Afghanistan when he was captured in 2001, has been cleared for release but remains at the US detention centre because he cannot return to his native Uzbekistan for fear of torture or other ill-treatment.
Mr Jabbarov's Boston-based lawyer Michael Mone has discussed his client's predicament with officials from the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
"I think he would be a perfect fit for Ireland," Mr Mone told The Irish Times. "He has told me over and over again that he wants to be settled in a country that is free, safe and democratic."
Calls for the closure of the Guantánamo facility have increased since Barack Obama's victory in the US presidential election earlier this month. Mr Obama has indicated he will treat the matter as a priority in the early stages of his administration.
Closing Guantánamo presents several challenges, not least the question of what to do with the 50 or so exonerated detainees who remain at the camp because they cannot lawfully be sent back to their countries of origin due the risk of torture or other mistreatment.
These inmates come from countries including China, Libya, Algeria and Uzbekistan.
Amnesty International's Irish branch has urged the Government to take in one or more of the detainees, arguing that it could lead by example in being the first EU state to do so. So far Albania is the only country to have accepted former Guantánamo inmates for resettlement.
It is understood there is some resistance to the proposal within the Department of Justice, but some Department of Foreign Affairs officials believe the Government could earn kudos with the Obama administration by agreeing to resettle at least one detainee.
Director of Amnesty's Irish branch Colm O'Gorman said: "If the Irish Government are serious in their quest to see Guantánamo Bay closed they must step up and provide solutions for innocent men with nowhere to go."
Last week Switzerland rejected asylum applications from three detainees who had been cleared for release. Danish politicians have also reacted coolly to calls to resettle in Denmark three detainees, two from Uzbekistan and one from Lebanon.