BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany is examining a U.S. request to take in some prisoners held at its military prison in Guantanamo Bay, the government said on Monday, adding Berlin was willing to help but needed to assess each individual case.

“We have made clear to the United States that we, as well as other European countries, are willing to help and support but that we have to look closely at each case,” government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told a regular news conference.
“On questions concerning specific persons, we're now at the beginning and will hold intense talks in coming weeks.”
Der Spiegel magazine said Washington has asked Germany to take about 10 prisoners who cannot be sent to their home countries and are classified as not posing a security threat.
Germany's foreign and interior ministries declined to provide details on individual detainees mentioned in the U.S. request.
A spokesman for the foreign ministry said he assumed Washington had made similar requests to other European states.
“I can't say whether these are entirely identical on the people concerned. But I assume that this is not about a specific package for Germany or a specific group of people for Germany,” ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner told the same news conference, adding Germany aimed for a coordinated European solution.
Some European countries, including France and Portugal, have signaled a readiness to accept former Guantanamo inmates.
In Germany, the question has revealed divisions between Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a Social Democrat (SPD), and Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, a leader from Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).
Steinmeier, the SPD candidate to challenge Merkel in September's federal election, has said Germany should take in some prisoners as a token of solidarity after Germany had long urged the United States to close the prison.
Schaeuble has expressed reservations about Germany accepting detainees.
U.S. President Barack Obama, in one of his first acts after taking office, ordered that the Guantanamo prison be closed within a year.