Guantanamo inmates land in Bermuda, sparking furor

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Bermuda's decision to grant asylum to four Chinese detainees from Guantanamo Bay sparked a political and diplomatic furor on Thursday on the wealthy Atlantic island.

Premier Ewart Brown defended the decision to take the men, part of a group of 17 ethnic Uighurs held at the U.S. military prison in Cuba, on humanitarian grounds and said it was taken in the context of strong relations between Bermuda and the United States.

The men arrived in Bermuda, Britain's oldest and most populous remaining colony, on Thursday after spending seven years at Guantanamo before being cleared by U.S. authorities as terrorism suspects.

They were freed as part of a U.S. government plan to close the controversial prison camp but China reiterated its demand that they be repatriated and said it opposed any third country accepting them.

"Those of us in leadership have a common understanding of the need to make tough decisions and to sometimes make them in spite of their unpopularity; simply because it is the right thing to do," Brown said in a statement carried by Bermuda's Royal Gazette newspaper.

Brown also appeared to leave the door open to a reversal of the decision by Britain, which has expressed concerns about the move and said it was not consulted in advance.

Britain says it will help Bermuda conduct a security assessment of the four men, who do not have travel documents and cannot leave the British overseas territory.

"This fast-moving situation now rests at Government House and we await a decision. In many respects, the international community awaits a decision," Brown said.

'UNILATERAL DECISION'

Bermuda's opposition party, the United Bermuda Party, condemned what it said was a high-handed move that could potentially endanger national security.

"We are truly outraged by the unilateral decision displayed by what we see as an autocratic leader (Brown) who has failed to consult the people of this country on matters of national security," said Shawn Crockwell, shadow minister for immigration and labor.

The tropical Pacific island nation of Palau said on Wednesday it had agreed to temporarily accept other Uighur detainees.

Bermuda, with a population of about 68,000, lies around 620 miles east of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The country has an Islamic center and several mosques, of possible interest to the freed detainees who are Muslim.

It enjoys one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, based on a booming reinsurance industry and tourism, as well as near-zero unemployment and low crime.

Brown took office in October 2006 and was reelected in December 2007 when his Progressive Labor Party won a majority in the island's parliament.

The island's Human Rights Commission applauded the decision over the men as one that respected the presumption of innocence but several callers to popular radio station Hott 107.5 said they had concerns about national security.

Some expressed surprise at the decision given the country's strict immigration laws.

(Editing by Eric Walsh)