While Jonathan Pollard continues to rot in jail ............. Islamic terrorists partay on your American taxpayer dime. Did Obama ask the UK's permission? No. Did he piss off our number one ally? Sure nuff. He is spitting on every US ally we have. Bush treated our allies with respect and kindness. Obama is an Obarbarian. He is pissing everyone off.
Uighurs Tell FNC: Better Human Rights at Guantanamo Than in China
- U.S. accused of 'riding roughshod' over UK as Guantanamo detainees are sent to Bermuda in secret deal
- But Washington insists deal was kept from London in an effort to protect UK's relationship with China
- Bermudian opposition tables no confidence motion in Prime Minister as deal ignites political firestorm on the island
- PM admits he may not have agreed to take detainees in had he known the controversy it would cause
- EU agrees to
take in detainees
They look like ordinary tourists as they stroll along the seafront on the British territory of Bermuda, but these four men are far from regular sunseekers, for they have spent the last seven years locked up in Guantanamo Bay.
The former terror suspects are Uighurs -
members of China's Muslim Turkic-speaking
minority - and hail from a rugged province in the far west of the country.
Simple pleasures: Salahidin Abdulahat takes a dip in the Atlantic ocean off the shore near Hamilton
They were detained by the Americans, who eventually determined they were not a threat to the United States. But because no country volunteered to take them and it was feared they would be detained and tortured if they were returned to China, the men were left in limbo.
Now they have been given a chance by officials in the millionaire's playground - an island paradise that doubles as one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
And already they have dreams of opening the first Uighur restaurant.
Embracing the delights of their new island home, the Uighurs have already taken a sunset swim and caught a fish at their first attempt at fishing. They have also reverted to their real names after using pseudonyms since leaving China.
They encountered a fisherman while walking along the beach and became curious about the art of fishing, their lawyer said.
Seaside leisure: Khelil Mamut, Ablakim Turahun, and Salahidin Abdulahat (left to right) enjoy butter pecan ice cream at a local Hamilton shop
The man offered to teach them, and one of the
former prisoners, Khelil Mamut, tossed a line into the ocean. He caught a
10-inch fish to the cheers of the other men, she said.
Government liaison Glenn Brangman later took
them swimming and watched as they climbed the rocks and jumped into the ocean
like he did as a boy.
'Normally Bermudians test the temperature of the water,' he said. 'But they just went to the edge and jumped straight in.'
'When we didn't have any country to accept us, when everybody was afraid of us ... Bermuda had the courage and was brave enough to accept us,' said Abdulla Abdulgadir, who at 30 is the youngest of the four men who relished their first weekend of freedom in seven years.
'We are not moving anywhere,' he said
New life: Three of the four former Guantanamo detainees, Ablakim Turahun, Salahidin Abdulahat, and Khelil Mamut (left to right) take a stroll in the historic district of St. George, on the island of Bermuda
Guantanamo four: Ablakim Turahun, Abdulla Abdulqadir, Khelil Mamut, and Salahidin Abdulahat (left to right) are already looking to the future with talk of opening Bermuda's first Uighur restaurant
Lost in paradise: After seven long years behind razor-wire, the vastness of the ocean will take some getting used to for Khelil Mamut (right) and Salahidin Abdulahat, perched on a rock
