The tropical Pacific island nation of Palau announced yesterday it will accept up to 17 Chinese Muslims who have languished in legal limbo at Guantanamo Bay despite a Pentagon determination that they are not “enemy combatants.”
China’s Foreign Ministry had no immediate reaction to the decision by Palau to grant Washington’s request to resettle the detainees from China’s Uighur minority who had been incarcerated at the US. Navy base in Cuba. Palau is one of a handful of countries that does not recognize China and maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Palauan President Johnson Toribiong said was accepting the detainees “as a humanitarian gesture” intended to help them restart their lives. His archipelago, with a population of about 20,000, will accept up to 17 of the detainees subject to periodic review, Toribiong said in a statement.
“This is but a small thing we can do to thank our best friend and ally for all it has done for Palau,” he said.
A former US trust territory in the Pacific, Palau has retained close ties with the US since independence in 1994.
While it is independent, it relies heavily on US aid and is dependent on the US for its defense. Native-born Palauans are allowed to enter the US without passports or visas.
The administration of US President Barack Obama sought a solution for the detainees after facing fierce congressional opposition to releasing them on US soil despite a Pentagon determination that they were not “enemy combatants.”
Palau, made up of eight main islands plus more than 250 islets, is best known for diving and tourism and is located some 800km east of the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean.
A federal judge last year ordered the Uighur detainees released into the US after the Pentagon determined they were not “enemy combatants.” But an appeals court halted the order, and they have been in legal limbo ever since.
Meanwhile, Ahmed Ghailani, who was an alleged aide to Osama bin Laden, suspected bomb maker, former prisoner of war is now the first Guantanamo detainee headed for trial in the US.
His military lawyers said on Tuesday that the government’s decision to bring him to a Manhattan federal court to face charges in a deadly strike against US embassies was a victory in itself.
“The rule of law is established here,” said Air Force Major Richard Reiter. “We’re not dealing with the due process issues that exist in Guantanamo. ... A fair prosecution that protects his rights is all we could ask for.”
In theory, Ghailani will now have broader access to the evidence against him and more avenues to challenge it by emphasizing the circumstances of his capture, detention and treatment over the years. He’ll also have regular access to his lawyers as he awaits trial in a jail that holds disgraced financier Bernard Madoff and the captured alleged Somali pirate Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse.
Ghailani, who is believed to be in his 30s, got his first taste of the justice system when he pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to participating in the al-Qaeda bombings that killed 224 people — including 12 Americans — at the embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998.
Ghailani has denied knowing that the TNT and oxygen tanks he delivered would be used to make a bomb. He also has denied buying a vehicle used in one of the attacks, saying he could not drive.
In related news, Obama’s plans to close the Guantanamo Bay prison has prompted politicians from across the country to declare their opposition to bringing any of the detainees to their constituencies. But there is a small poor town in Montana with welcoming arms open.
Hardin lies in the southeastern part of Montana known as Big Sky Country and is home to about 3,400 residents. Two years ago the city completed construction of a US$27 million prison, hoping it would create badly needed jobs and boost the local economy.
The facility built to hold 464 inmates has not seen a single prisoner since, mainly because of a dispute between Hardin and the Montana state government.
But Obama’s announcement to close Guantanamo within a year brought new hope. Hardin’s officials offered use of the prison for housing detainees remaining at Guantanamo until they could be transferred or tried.
So far, though, the offer has fallen on deaf ears. The city’s director of economic development, Greg Smith, said that Hardin has not heard back from the federal government.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
RSS