William Hague considers plea for Guantánamo release of Shaker Aamer He has been saying for a long time that the camp should be closed, even as shadow Foreign Secretary, when he gave a speech in America back in 2006. For too long we have looked at this as a purely moral issue - and it is a moral issue - but there are also rational reasons for closing it. As many retired US military leaders have acknowledged, there are 166 men currently being held there but a far greater number of jihadists have been recruited in fury at Guantánamo's very existence. And if Britain, a trusted ally, is offering to help by moving one man out of there, giving President Obama one less problem to solve, then surely the Americans should seize that offer? Ms Ellison said that it was "a life or death issue for my constituents," with Mr Aamer among the hunger strikers, and that "if the President cannot resolve the procedural problems in the way of releasing men from Guantanamo, then it remains a stain on the reputation of the US, and, by association, her allies." An FCO spokesperson said: "Mr Aamer's case remains a high priority for the UK Government and we continue to make clear to the US that we want him released and returned to the UK as a matter of urgency. We do not comment on private meetings with MPs Certainly pressure on the US administration to take action on Guantánamo would appear to be mounting. One hundred out of the 166 prisoners are currently on hunger strike after guards in February raided their cells, confiscating blankets, family photos and toiletries. Some of the men claim the guards mishandled their Korans - a claim strongly denied by the Guantánamo authorities. One of the hunger strikers, an Afghan prisoner named Obaydullah, vowed that he and his fellow detainees "plan to remain on strike until we are treated with dignity." "Eleven years of my life have been taken from me, and now by the latest actions of the authorities, they have also taken my dignity and disrespected my religion," he wrote a statement released by his lawyers. Three of the hunger strikers are in hospital, and 23 are being force fed. Barack Obama admitted last week that more should be done to close the controversial camp, which he promised to shut within a year when he took office in January 2009. Mr Obama is now considering the reappointment of a special envoy for closing Guantánamo, after Daniel Fried, the man appointed to oversee the closure of the camp, was reassigned in January and not replaced. "The idea that we would still maintain forever a group of individuals who have not been tried, that is contrary to who we are, it is contrary to our interests, and it needs to stop," he said on Tuesday. Mr Obama's attempts to transfer prisoners back to their detention in their country of origin have been repeatedly blocked by Congress, and many American politicians argued that it was not acceptable to house the men in US prisons. But Mr Obama said that more must be done to shut the site. "Guantánamo is not necessary to keep America safe," Mr Obama said. It is expensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us in terms of our international standing. It lessens cooperation with our allies on counterterrorism efforts. It is a recruitment tool for extremists. It needs to be closed. Mr Obama's options do appear limited, however - despite the Pentagon estimating that it costs $900,000 (£580,000) a year for each inmate held, compared to $60,000 to hold a prisoner in a maximum security jail. In September a bill which demands that all military expenditure on Guantánamo - including the transfer away of prisoners - must be approved by Congress will expire. The President hopes that he can convince Congress not to renew the bill - thus making it possible to begin the process of closing the site. But with the American public overwhelmingly supporting Guantanamo's existence and politicians from both sides arguing against its closure, it may be a slim hope. John McCain, the Arizona senator who ran for the presidency against Mr Obama, is leading opposition to closing the camp. There has been no coherent plan presented to the Congress of the United States of how to deal with these individuals. "And one of the [main things] is not to send them back into the fight where they can kill more Americans," he said on Sunday. Another opponent was more blunt. "They're individuals hell-bent on our destruction and destroying our way of life," said Senator Lindsey Graham. There is bipartisan opposition to closing Gitmo.