White House counsel to resign: reports

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House Counsel Gregory Craig, who has tried to lead the closure of the Guantanamo Bay military prison, intends to resign on Friday, the Washington Post and the New York Times reported.

Quoting associates and people familiar with the situation, the papers said in their online editions that Craig had decided to resign, ending months of speculation over whether he would stay as President Barack Obama's top lawyer.

The White House declined to comment on the reports.

The military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, a U.S. naval base on Cuba, was opened after the September 11 attacks to hold foreign terrorism suspects. It has been widely criticized around the world for its harsh interrogations.

Obama ordered the controversial prison closed on his second day in office but administration officials have run into numerous legal, political and diplomatic hurdles.

Both papers said Craig would be replaced by Bob Bauer, a Democratic lawyer in Washington who has represented Obama for years.

"When Mr. Craig's resignation becomes official, he will be the highest-ranking official to leave the Obama administration. He had repeatedly said he had no plans to leave, and that Mr. Obama still had faith in him, but a search had been underway for weeks to replace him," the New York Times said.

The Washington Post said it was not clear what Craig would do next.

(Writing by Sandra Maler, additional reporting by Caren Bohan in Tokyo, Editing by Jeremy Laurence)