Chinese Muslims Trigger Public Backlash in Palau
THE INDEPENDENT: The tiny Pacific nation of Palau's decision to allow 13 Chinese Muslims from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to resettle there has sparked anger among islanders who fear for the safety of the tranquil tourist haven.

The US government determined last year that the Chinese Muslims, or Uighurs, were not enemy combatants and should be released from the US military prison in Cuba. China has objected to their resettlement, calling the men "terrorist suspects" and demanding they be sent home.

The US has said it fears the men would be executed if they were returned to China.

Palau President Johnson Toribiong explained his decision to grant the Uighurs entry as traditional hospitality, but public opinion has appeared overwhelmingly negative. Some complained Friday that the government failed to consult the people.

"I totally disagree" with allowing the Uighurs onto Palau, Natalia Baulis, a 30-year-old mother of two, told The Associated Press by telephone.

"It's good to be humanitarian and all, but still these people ... to me are scary," she said.

The Uighurs (pronounced WEE'-gurs) have been in custody since they were captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001.

Fermin Nariang, editor of the Palau newspaper Island Times, said he had been stopped in the streets of the capital, Koror, by residents venting their anger. >>> Associated Press | Friday, June 12, 2009

US Judge Orders Release of Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay
TIMESONLINE: A few months ago Abdulghappar Turkistani wrote from his cell in Guantanamo Bay of his yearning to see the sun and feel the air.

Now a US federal judge has ruled that Turkistani, and 16 other Chinese Muslims held prisoner for seven years, must be set free and released into the United States from the naval facility in Cuba.

The decision drew delight from other Uighurs, from north-western China’s Xinjiang region, now living in the United States, swift condemnation from the administration and anger from China which regards them as members of a terrorist organisation bent on separatism.

In a stern rebuke of the US government, District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina said it would be wrong to continue holding the detainees since they no longer are considered enemy combatants. The must be released by Friday, he ruled.

He said: “I think the moment has arrived for the court to shine the light of constitutionality on the reasons for the detention.”

His words drew cheers and applause from local Uighur residents in Washington and from human rights activists packed into the US District courtroom.

The 17 Uighurs were officially declared no longer "enemy combatants" by the government earlier this year, but officials had maintained they could continue to hold the men at Guantanamo Bay if no other country accepted them. Only Albania has agreed to take the Uighurs, welcoming a group of five who were flown there from Guantanamo Bayin 2006 and who now live in refugee accommodation with no possibility of returning to their families any time soon.

The men had been left in limbo because of the dilemma of where they would go after their release. US Judge Orders Release of Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay >>> Jane Macartney in Beijing | October 8, 2008

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