Palau Islands to Take 17 Chinese Muslim Guantanamo Detainees

The President of Palau, a group of remote Pacific Islands has said he’s “honoured and proud” to house up to 17 Chinese Muslim Guantanamo Detainees.

President Johnson Toribiong said in a statement that Washington requested his country provide accomodations for the Guantanamo Detainees last week, and he’s more than eager to accept as a humanitarian gesture. The detainees will be temporarily held in Palau and subject to periodic reviews.

“Palau’s accommodation to accept the temporary resettlement of these detainees is a humanitarian gesture intended to help them be freed of any further unnecessary incarceration and to restart their lives in as normal a fashion as possible.”

U.S. officials on the condition of anonymity say that Palau will receive up to $200,000,000 in aide from the U.S. in exchange for taking the prisoners.

Up until now, the Palau islands have been best known as a Pacific resort paradise and a haven for divers.

[Photo: Keren Su/Corbis]