Gitmo men celebrate freedom

Bernadette Carreon

Koror - Six Chinese Muslim Uighurs, released on the weekend after nearly eight years locked up at Guantanamo Bay, spent their first day of freedom on Monday shopping in the Palau capital Koror.

They have also penciled in a day's swimming at the spectacular Rock Islands in this Pacific island nation after revealing that was one of life's treats they missed most while detained at the US naval base in Cuba.

The six have been treated as heroes since arriving in Palau on Sunday and being greeted by President Johnson Toribiong who will also accompany them on their swim.

"They have not touched the water for eight years," said George Clark, an American lawyer traveling with the Uighurs.

"They are happy that the Palauan people have accepted them and relieved that they have finally been released from jail."

Mampimin Ala, an Australian flown to Palau to act as a translator for the Uighurs, escorted the men as they left their temporary residence to walk around the shops and shake hands with locals.

"They are happy to enjoy the beautiful environment of Palau," Ala said, adding that their main shopping targets were basic necessities.

As there is no mosque in Palau, Ala said the Uighurs started the day with prayers at their home and will meet members of the small local Muslim community later in the week.

Gitanjali Gutierrez, another lawyer traveling with the men, said it was important for them to meet as many locals as possible in the next few days as the former prisoners rebuild their lives in freedom.

The men were among 22 Uighurs - a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority from China's remote Xinjiang region - living at a self-contained camp in Afghanistan when the US-led invasion of the country began in October 2001.

They were held at Guantanamo Bay for more than seven years despite being cleared of all charges.

They said they had fled to Afghanistan to escape persecution from China, which wants the men returned home to be tried, saying they belong to an Islamic separatist movement.

Amid US fears that they could face torture if returned to China, five were released to Albania in 2006, and four were resettled in Bermuda this year. The others have remained in legal limbo.

The decision to transfer the six Uighurs to Palau, one of only 23 nations to recognize Taiwan over Beijing, is likely to rile China.

However, President Toribiong said the Uighurs were in his country temporarily and as Palau has a close relationship with the United States he was not worried about China's reaction.

The Uighurs now in Palau and those still at Guantanamo contend they should be released in the United States and the US Supreme Court has agreed to hear their case early next year.

In the meantime, Toribiong said the six would be taught "conversational and written English, educated about the culture and laws of Palau, and instructed in skills that will enable them to find a job and earn a living in Palau".

The Uighurs - Ahmad Tourson, Abdul Ghappar Abdul Rahman, Edham Mamet, Anwar Hassan, Dawut Abdurehim and Adel Noori - "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, which represented the former detainees along with the Centre for Constitutional Rights.

Palau, with a population of about 21 000, lies about 800km east of the Philippines and was administered by the United States until independence in 1994.