Three Chinese Muslims imprisoned for years at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay have agreed to be released to the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, their lawyers said.
The deals struck recently with US officials are the first among a group of 13 Uighur detainees at Guantanamo who have been offered relocation to Palau under US President Barack Obama’s plans to close the controversial prison in Cuba. Negotiations are continuing with the rest of the group.
Relocating the Uighurs would bring the Obama administration a step closer to its goal of finding new homes for terrorism suspects and others captured in Afghanistan who have been cleared of wrongdoing but cannot go home for fear of persecution.
But it has also raised tension with Beijing, which regards the inmates as terrorist suspects and wants them returned to China.
George Clarke, the lawyer for two of the Uighurs, Dawut Abdurehim and Anwar Assan, said on Tuesday that they had both recently formally accepted Washington’s offer to relocate them to Palau. Eric Tirschwell, the lawyer for four other Uighurs at Guantanamo, said on Wednesday that one of his clients had also accepted the offer.
“They’re excited,” Clarke said by telephone from Washington. “They want to get the heck out of Guantanamo Bay. They look forward to getting to Palau and getting on with their lives.”
A State Department official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity because talks with other Uighurs are continuing, confirmed “some of the Uighur detainees have agreed to resettlement in Palau” but declined to give details.
Uighurs who have accepted the offer could be transferred to Palau as soon as next month, Clarke said.
The 13 Uighurs, Turkic Muslims from far western China, have been held by the US since their capture in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001. The Pentagon determined last year they were not “enemy combatants,” but they have been in legal limbo ever since.
Mark Bezner, the top US official in Palau, said on Wednesday he had not yet received formal notification on the Uighurs.
“Perhaps we’ll get a confirmation in the next couple of days from Washington,” he said.
Tirschwell declined to reveal which of his clients has agreed to the deal, but said “he’s looking forward to enjoying the freedom that he deserves and that he’s been denied for almost eight years.”
The lawyers also declined to give details of agreements struck with US officials.
Of the 10 other Uighur detainees remaining at the US military base in Cuba, none have ruled out moving to Palau. Attorneys representing the other men declined to comment or did not return messages left by reporters.
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