WASHINGTON, DC (AP):

A war funding bill headed to the floor next week would provide the $50 million sought by the Pentagon to relocate prisoners from the United States detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee said yesterday.

The administration would be denied the money until it came up with a detailed plan on how to close the Guantanamo detention facility and how to deal with the 240 or so detainees being held there, according to Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, the architect of the funding measure and a supporter of the Pentagon request.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev, said Inouye told him that the measure would not allow money to be spent to bring accused terrorists to the US before the end of the budget year on October 1.

The move by Inouye is sure to spark a lively debate within the ranks of Senate Democrats, some of whom have spoken strongly against bringing Guantanamo detainees to the United States.