Freed Gitmo Inmates: 'We'd Never Heard of al-Qaeda'

Brothers detained since 2001 to be resettled in Alpine region

(NEWSER) - Two Chinese Uighur brothers will soon be swapping Guantanamo Bay for the Swiss Alps. Switzerland officials have decided to accept the men for resettlement on humanitarian grounds. Authorities believe that Bahtiyar and Arkin Mahmud pose no security risk and should be able to find jobs in their new homes in Jura in northwestern Switzerland, the BBC reports. More»

Pres tells Fox's Major Garrett prison will close after Jan 2010

(NEWSER) - Guantanamo Bay prison won't close by the January deadline he set when he took office, President Obama admitted today, but he still hopes to shut it next year. Obama is "not disappointed" in missing the deadline, he says in a FoxNews interview airing this morning, since closing the facility is "technically hard" and people are understandably "fearful after a lot of years where they were told that Guantanamo was critical to keep terrorists out," the Washington Post reports. More»

Executed were convicted of murder during Xinjiang province unrest

(NEWSER) - Nine people convicted of murder and arson during July riots in China’s Xinjiang province were executed today. Chinese news services did not identify the executed, but previous statements suggest that they are Uighurs. The riots in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, left 197 people dead as Uighurs clashed with Han Chinese. Uighur activists slammed the executions as token measures to appease the Han community’s desire for revenge, the BBC reports. More»

(AP) - The Supreme Court will hear a new case about the rights of Guantanamo detainees, this time involving prisoners who remain in custody even after the Pentagon determines they're not a threat to the United States, the court said today. Last year, the court said in a 5-4 ruling that federal judges could ultimately order some detainees to be released, depending on security concerns and other circumstances. More»

Neither is guilty, but one has no offer of resettlement

(NEWSER) - Bahtiyar Mahnut, a Chinese Uighur detainee at Guantanamo Bay, is guilty of no crime. In fact, he’s free to leave and even has an offer of sanctuary from the island nation of Palau, like all of his compatriots save one. And that one, his brother Arkin, is why he’s staying, reports the Washington Post. “Every day here is an eternity,” Bahtiyar tells Arkin’s lawyer. “But I have to look out for my brother.” More»