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Swiss Taking Gitmo Uighur Bros

Brothers detained since 2001 to be resettled in Alpine region

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 4, 2010 2:15 AM CST

(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.

The pair were captured along with 20 other Uighurs in Afghanistan in 2001 but were never classified as enemy combatants. They refused an offer to be resettled in the Pacific Island nation of Palau last year. China considers all Uighurs at Guantanamo suspected terrorists and have demanded their return. But US officials have declined to comply out of fears they'll be mistreated.

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[Quotes (1)]

A US soldier keeps watch from a guard tower overlooking Camp Delta detention center on Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base in Cuba. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

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The government and people of Switzerland have made an extraordinary humanitarian gesture, which is even more remarkable in the face of unrelenting pressure from China not to accept
the two men. - The Uighur-American Association

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Swiss Taking Gitmo Uighur Bros