Guantanamo Bay detainees resettle
By Associated Press Writer JONATHAN KAMINSKY (The Associated Press)
KOROR, Palau – Six Chinese Muslims who had been detained at Guantanamo Bay arrived today in the tiny Pacific nation of Palau for resettlement, a person with knowledge of the situation said.
The men arrived in Palau early today, the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, told The Associated Press.
U.S.-based lawyers for three of the released men confirmed the transfer of the six former detainees, saying they “arrived to freedom” in Palau.
“These men want nothing more than to live peaceful, productive lives in a free, democratic nation safe from oppression by the Chinese,” said Eric Tirschwell of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel law firm. “Thanks to Palau, which has graciously offered them a temporary home, they now have that chance.”
Overnight, about 10 policemen stood outside the home where the men will live, on a side street in the heart of Koror, where most of Palau’s 20,000 residents live and work.
The house, with a bank on the ground floor, has undergone construction in recent weeks to accommodate the men. It is a five-minute walk from Koror’s only mosque, one of two on the island.
Palau has a Muslim population of about 500, mostly migrant workers from Bangladesh.
Palau offered earlier this year to resettle the men, who are members of the Uighur minority. They have been held by the U.S. since their capture in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001. The Pentagon determined last year that the Uighurs were not “enemy combatants” but they have been in legal limbo ever since.
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