U.S. resettles 4 Gitmo detainees in Bermuda
Department of Justice says the Uighers are already on the U.K.-run island

BREAKING NEWS
updated 8:29 a.m. ET June 11, 2009

WASHINGTON - Four Chinese Muslims who were detained for years at Guantanamo Bay have been released and resettled in Bermuda.

These detainees, who were subject to release as a result of court orders, had been cleared for release by the prior administration, which determined they would no longer treat them as enemy combatants, the Justice Department said in a statement on Thursday.

It's the first time since 2006 that the U.S. has successfully resettled any of Guantanamo's population of Chinese Muslims -- or Uighurs -- whose fate has been wending through the courts for years.

The U.S. government had determined that they weren't enemy combatants and should be released. But China resisted their release and it had been unclear where they would go free.

Thirteen other Uighurs remain to be freed from Guantanamo.

The Justice Department issued a statement thanking the government of Bermuda for helping resettle four of the detainees.

Arrangements are being made for other Uighurs to be sent to the nation of Palau.


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