Freed From Guantánamo, Uighur Muslims Bask in Bermuda

The New York Times ^ | June 14, 2009 | Erik Eckholm

[2ndDivisionVet]

ST. GEORGE, Bermuda — Almost exactly seven years after arriving at Guantánamo in chains as accused enemy combatants, and four days after their surprise predawn flight to Bermuda, four Uighur Muslim men basked in their new-found freedom here, grateful for the handshakes many residents have offered and marveling at the serene beauty of this tidy, postcard island.

In newly purchased polo shirts and chinos, the four husky men, members of a restive ethnic minority from western China, might blend in except for their scruffy beards. Smelling hibiscus flowers, luxuriating in the freedom to drift through scenic streets and harbors, they expressed wonder at their good fortune in landing here after a captivity that included more than a year in solitary confinement.

“I went swimming in the ocean for the first time ever yesterday and it was the happiest day of my life,” said Salahidin Abdulahat, 32.

Over a lunch of fish and chips on Sunday, they praised Bermuda for showing courage in the face of potential Chinese pressures that, in their view, powerful European countries had failed to muster.

The men were among a larger group of Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gers) who had fled what they called Chinese persecution of Muslims in western China and spent part of 2001 in a Uighur camp in Afghanistan. They fled, apparently unarmed, when the Americans bombed the camp and were later turned in to authorities by Pakistani villagers in return for an American bounty.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Thank you akh (brother) Obama, we will dedicate our next attack to you, Inshallah!

[Nathan Zachary]

"grateful for the handshakes many residents have offered"

Remember that before you book your next holiday.

[icwhatudo]

Ahkmed!!! Whatss uuuuuuupppppp!!!!??????

"Im vatching vollieee bahllll!!!!"

[Texas Eagle]

Well, let this be a lesson to ‘em.

[Texas Eagle]

Almost exactly seven years after arriving at Guantánamo in chains as accused enemy combatants,

They "arrived" at Gitmo? You mean they weren't picked up on the battlefield and transported to Gitmo or anything? They just chained themselves and swam to Gitmo or what?

[MrEdd]

Hopefully the Bermuda Government will be incredibly stupid, and not put them on a boat to Miami.

[livius]

Disgusting. Also, this is a lie “fled Chinese persecution of Muslims...” Whether you like the Chinese or not, the Uighurs (a Turkic people) have been attacking them, doing their usual Muslim schtick, and these guys were not innocent little “persecuted Muslims.”

I am just stunned by this. Not only have we rewarded them, we’ve planted another little terrorist cell not too far off our coast (North Carolina, to be specific).

[shadeaud]

Time for the Bermuda Triangle to take its’ victims

[Rembrandt]

Isn’t it time for Sirhan Sirhan to be freed; hasn’t he served enough time for his problem with the law?

[japaneseghost]

Notice that there is not one picture of these guys on the Internet. Eric Holder wants it that way. I’m sure he’s the one who negotiated the deal with Bermuda (his Caribbean roots). That just fine with me but let’s see how he treats a US citizen with serious intel.