Australia mulls request to take Guantanamo inmates

Australia was mulling a third formal request from the US to resettle a group of 'war on terror' inmates from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

Australia was mulling a third formal request from the United States to resettle a group of “war on terror” inmates from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,officials said on Saturday.

“The Australian government will consider the request on a case by case basis and in accordance with the government’s strict immigration and national security requirements,” a foreign affairs spokeswoman told AFP.

It follows the rebuff in January of a similar request from the administration former US president George W Bush to take around 60 inmates from the camp on Cuba’s island for “war on terror” suspects.

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Australia had already in early 2008 knocked back an initial Bush administration request to resettle inmates from Guantanamo’s Camp Delta,which currently houses about 240 people.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper the latest request involved six Uighurs — ethnic Muslims from northwestern China — who had been held for more than six years.

They were cleared of extremist involvement by US authorities but faced execution,arrest,torture or lengthy incarceration if returned to their home country,the Herald said.

The request is the first from new US President Barack Obama,who made the closure of Guantanamo a key election promise and this week reiterated his commitment to the cause.