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US and Palau wrangling over Gitmo transfer details, including $$$
June 10, 2009 6:32 PM
ABC News' Kirit Radia reports:
The United States has struck a notional deal with the tiny island nation of Palau, located near the Philippines, to take in up to 17 detainees from Guantanamo who have been cleared for release, according to US officials. The details of their transfer, however, have yet to be worked out -- including how much money Palau will receive from the United States for taking them in.
Specifically, one senior US official told ABC News, the United States and Palau are nailing down where and when they would be transferred, how they would be looked after, and how many of the 17 Uyghurs currently in Guantanamo Palau would accept. That process, the official said, could take up to a few more weeks.
The official said the United States is prepared to pay Palau for each detainee they agree to house, but described the amount as "not very substantial." It remains unclear whether Palau would have to use those funds to house and care for the former detainees.
Palau's President Johnson Toribiong was quoted today as saying his country "agreed to accommodate the United States of America's request to temporarily resettle in Palau up to 17 ethnic Uighur detainees." He said their resettlement in Palau would be "subject to periodic review."
Toribiong's announcement follows a visit to Palau last week by Ambassador Daniel Fried, a top State Department official tasked with finding countries to take in the remaining Guantanamo detainees.
Just a few days ago, the Obama administration asserted before the Supreme Court that the Uyghurs have no right to come to America despite a district judge's orders last Fall that they immediately be brought to the U.S. and released.
The United States does not want to send the Uyghurs, a Muslim Chinese ethnic group, back to China where Washington fears they would likely be persecuted for their opposition to the Beijing government.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly confirmed that the US is in talks with Palau, and other countries, about taking in detainees from Guantanamo, but said no deal had yet been finalized.
"In preparation for closing Guantanamo, as I've said several times, we're in ongoing discussions with a number of governments, including with the government of Palau, on resettlement options for some of the Guantanamo detainees, who we believe present compelling basis for resettlement or a compelling case for resettlement, on a humanitarian basis," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.
But, he added, "we're still involved in ongoing discussions" over "details."
US officials also pointed to numerous caveats in Toribiong's statement, in particular that Palau could take in "up to" 17 Uyghurs, that they have agreed to take them in "temporarily," and that it would be subject to a "periodic review."
Kelly disputed press reports that connected a US plan to provide Palau with $200 million in aid to their willingness to take in the Uyghurs.
"Palau and the United States are embarking on a 15-year mandated review of their Compact of Free Association, which dates back to 1994. Part of those discussions include a review of direct and indirect assistance the United States has provided to Palau and might provide in the future. This long-standing agreement under the Compact of Free Association is not linked to any other discussions we may be having with the government of Palau," Kelly said.
The US has provided Palau with budgetary assistance ever since they ratified a Compact of Free Association with the US in 1993. The assistance is designed to help their economy which posted a GDP of only $164 million in 2008, or just $8,100 per capita. In a deal that expires this year Palau received a total of $157 million over the past 15 years. The new agreement raises that to $200 million for a nation of only 21,000 people over the next 15 years.
June 10, 2009 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (27)
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Not to mention that the Uighurs were cleared of all charges. Which makes it disgusting to either return them to China (where we didn't pick them up), or suggest that they should "rot in Guantanamo".
Posted by: Johanna Beck | Jun 18, 2009 7:08:28 PM
If anyone had read the article, they might have clued into the fact that neither the US nor Palau (nor anyone else named, anywhere) has confirmed any kind of monetary exchange for the Uighurs.
Feel free to be skeptical of whatever money goes to Palau, but be informed as well. It'll go, Uighurs or no Uighurs. Ask yourself why. The US, not to mention Taiwan, Japan, and other investors have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Palau in recent history. Spend your time researching that instead of calling Palau greedy and Obama careless. You'll realize how ignorant you sound in your accusations, and save yourself the embarrassment.
Posted by: Johanna Beck | Jun 18, 2009 7:06:40 PM
To think that these 17 Uyghers won't escape by one means or another is sheer naivete'. Anyone who knows something of the island of Palau...and the people of Palau...can tell you that it won't be long before a little 'payola' to the right guard will result in these Uygers returning to the battlefield to take-up where they left off. Palau doesn't have any "high security" facilities. Oh...and as for the 220 million...it is just another case of Palau having their greedy hand out for American dollars.
And 220 MILLION...REALLY??? for 17 terrorists??? TEMPORARILY??? Oh...and Ambassador Fried...how was your Palauan vacation? Stay at the PPR? Visit the Rock Islands? I thought so!!!!
Posted by: patriotforever | Jun 11, 2009 3:33:47 PM
jhw539: who is fear mongering????????
Posted by: Lizzie | Jun 11, 2009 11:05:30 AM
"no one here has heard of Palau maybe..."
Sad if that's true, given that it was the location of one of the bloodiest battles of WW2. Thousands of marines and soldiers died on that island. It still bears the scars of that battle.
Posted by: KR | Jun 11, 2009 9:46:41 AM
"The United States does not want to send the Uyghurs, a Muslim Chinese ethnic group, back to China where Washington fears they would likely be persecuted for their opposition to the Beijing government."
So if China caught Bin Laden and 17 of his cronies, would China refuse to give him to us and release him to some tiny pacific island? What would our response be to that?
Posted by: KR | Jun 11, 2009 9:43:01 AM
GOOD! I’m glad to see we still have places where officials don’t wet themselves at the mere mention of a terrorist. What happened to us being the land of the free and the home of the brave? It’s time for the right-wingers to get a backbone, follow the rules of international law and stop hiding under the bed with water boards and rhetoric.
Posted by: V. Brame | Jun 11, 2009 7:55:00 AM
I'll take two of them for $22 millions. I'll accommodate them in my garage and I'll cook chip pea and roti everyday as long as they alive. Gee! 200 Millions for 17 Uyghurs terrorists. I don’t think 200 millions dollar will be full stop in here.
The Government is spending huge amount money on these 17 Uyghurs when many of American peoples are homeless and without foods. I have no doubt US will bankrupt one day if the Government is spending in God speed.
Posted by: 90yearsoldman | Jun 11, 2009 4:33:41 AM
Let's see.....we paid a bounty of about $25,000 for each detainee. We spent an unknown sum for each detainee's detention for about 6 years so say $500,00 per each for the six years. So, we spent about $525,000 per detainee. Now we are going to spend around $1.3 million to sent them to this island nation. It would have been far cheaper and better for all had we not paid the $25,000 in the first place.
Posted by: Beto | Jun 11, 2009 4:25:08 AM
are you kidding me !!! Palau is a paradise why would anyone send them to one of the most beautiful places on earth!!!!!! no one here has heard of Palau maybe but its a paradise. why on earth would they be sent there!!!!!!!!! send them to china where they belong.
Posted by: Christian | Jun 11, 2009 3:18:29 AM
How about some common sense; if we can't charge them with a crime, let them go. This isn't the Minority Report...then again, it's not the land of the free anymore either.
Posted by: Taarax | Jun 11, 2009 1:01:53 AM
Send them back to China. Maybe the PRC will forgive $200 million of our debt.
Posted by: Woody Pfister | Jun 10, 2009 11:59:54 PM
You're kidding right?!?!? $11million per detainee?......... let 'em rot in Gitmo for goodness sakes......
Posted by: DAve | Jun 10, 2009 11:22:15 PM
Is the money a one time deal or is this to be done on a yearly basis?
Posted by: lm | Jun 10, 2009 11:14:12 PM
flopez:"The real question is whether they were read their Miranda rights. "
No, that's not relevant in these cases.
The US Judicial system is held in high regard by most of the world, except for Republicans apparently who have nothing but contempt for it (and the entire government set up by the Founding Fathers it seems).
Posted by: jhw539 | Jun 10, 2009 11:05:34 PM
MayBee:"You can see in Jake's post (above), Durbin isn't keen on the idea of Gitmo detainees being freed in the US either.
It isn't a Republican thing."
If you've been following this at all you know that the Republicans made this their bumper sticker of the week before beating the Congressional Democrats into caving. The Democrats gave in after a couple days of pounding with the weak excuse that they were waiting for 'the plan to close Guantanamo' to be fully defined. What a crock.
Plan to close Guantanamo: Constitutionally prosecute and imprison, execute, or free the detainees as should have been done years ago. Obama should trust the American people to have more of a spine than Congress critters scared of being Willie Horton'd in 2010.
Posted by: jhw539 | Jun 10, 2009 11:04:02 PM
Why are we paying somebody to take our enemies out of our hands. Seriously, Obama is worse than I thought he'd be. And that's saying A TON!
Posted by: Ryan | Jun 10, 2009 10:49:39 PM
Wait, isnt their a bracnh of Al Queda in or near the Philipines? I wonder how long it will take for them to do a rescue operation to free their pals, or how much Al Qeueda will bribe to have them released?
Posted by: 1MANA55 | Jun 10, 2009 10:41:42 PM
I am annoyed that Obama is caving in to the Republicans irrational fear mongering.
==========
Republican?
You can see in Jake's post (above), Durbin isn't keen on the idea of Gitmo detainees being freed in the US either.
It isn't a Republican thing.
Posted by: MayBee | Jun 10, 2009 10:00:03 PM
I am annoyed that Obama is caving in to the Republicans irrational fear. . . When did America become a nation of cowards?
Posted by: jhw539----
When Holder decided it was. . .a nation of cowards. The real question is whether they were read their Miranda rights. I sense a lawsuit coming. Americans have become such cowards under Obama. They fear his omniscience, apparently. He's a little like Mao. Perhaps that's why the Chinese show him the money.
Posted by: flopez | Jun 10, 2009 9:58:57 PM
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