Uighur Won't Leave Brother at Gitmo—So He's Staying

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»

Latest transfers trade prison for ocean views

(AP) - Six Chinese Muslims newly released from Guantanamo Bay traded life behind bars today for rooms with ocean view in the tiny Pacific nation of Palau. The Uighurs, in US custody since 2001, were met at the airport in the middle of the night by President Johnson Toribiong and taken to their new home—a large house in the heart of Koror. "They appeared to be very happy," Toribiong told reporters. "They smiled, they thanked me, they called me brother. It's amazing. I feel really good about it." 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»

'They're not monsters,' says island leader

(NEWSER) - That Palau's president was once a defense lawyer may explain why he risked upsetting his island's 20,000 residents and their peaceful isolation from the world to take in 13 former Guantanamo detainees. "They should be presumed innocent because no one has proven them guilty," newly elected Johnson Toribiong told the Los Angeles Times. "These people are not monsters.” More»

(NEWSER) - The Chinese Muslims freed from Guantanamo last week had never heard of al-Qaeda before arriving in Cuba, one of them tells the Royal Gazette of Bermuda. "From what we have heard about them, they are an extremely radical group, with totally different ideals from ours," said Salahidin Abdulahad, who arrived in Bermuda last week with three other Uighurs. "We are a peace-loving people." More»