Lawyers: Three Uighur detainees at Guantanamo agree to go to Palau

Lawyers: 3 Uighurs agree to go to Palau

KOROR, Palau — Lawyers say three Chinese Muslims held for years at Guantanamo Bay have accepted an offer to relocate to the Pacific island nation of Palau.

The deals are the first to be struck among 13 Uighur detainees at the U.S. military prison who have been offered new lives in Palau.

George Clarke, the lawyer for two of the Uighurs, told The Associated Press this week they had both recently formally accepted Washington’s offer to relocate to Palau. Eric Tirschwell, the lawyer for four other Uighurs at Guantanamo, said Wednesday that one of his clients also has accepted.

The 13 Uighurs were captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001. The Pentagon determined last year they were not “enemy combatants,” but they have remained in legal limbo.