Last year, the United States asked Germany whether it would be prepared to take in detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison now set for release. The German government is still mulling the issue.Four representatives from the German Interior Ministry have just returned from the Guantanamo Bay prison, which President Barack Obama wants closed down as soon as possible. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has indicated Germany could take in three former detainees. The Greens and the Social Democrats have already signaled their agreement. But opposition has come from the ranks of de Maiziere’s own Christian Democrat party, particularly in the state of Northrhine Westphalia, where key elections are scheduled next month.