U.S. sends four Uighur detainees to Bermuda

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four Chinese detainees from Guantanamo Bay arrived in Bermuda on Thursday after being freed by U.S. authorities in the Obama administration's latest move to close the controversial prison camp for terrorism suspects.

Their release took place the same day China repeated its demand for repatriation of all 17 members of the Uighur ethnic group held at the U.S. military prison in Cuba. China said it opposed any third country accepting the men.

Attorneys for the four Muslim men, who were held for seven years before being cleared by U.S. authorities as terrorism suspects, said they would take part in Bermuda's foreign guest worker program.

Two other Guantanamo Bay detainees, Jawad Jabber Sadkhan from Iraq and Mohammed El Gharani from Chad, were transferred to their home countries, the Justice Department said.

The Chinese detainees arrived at Bermuda's international airport on a charter aircraft on Thursday morning.

Speaking for the group, one of the freed detainees thanked Bermuda's government and people. "Growing up under communism," Abdul Nasser said, "we always dreamed of living in peace and working in free society like this one. Today you have let freedom ring."

Britain expressed concerns about the move and said it had asked for and would help Bermuda conduct a security assessment of the four men, who do not have travel documents and cannot leave the British overseas territory.

"We have underlined to the Bermuda government that it should have consulted the United Kingdom on whether this falls within their competence or is a foreign affairs or security issue for which the Bermuda Government do not have delegated responsibility," said a spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London.