Palau agrees to take 12 Uighurs from Guantanamo: U.S

These Caribbean and Pacific islands sure are stepping up. Last I read, there were just over two hundred left (can't find the exact stats, but here is the Wiki page). Oh and Hungary just took one.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration has agreed with Palau to transfer up to 12 of the 13 Uighur Chinese detainees still held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the Pacific island nation, according to a letter obtained by Reuters on Thursday.

So far, six Uighurs have agreed to go to Palau and the Obama administration hopes two more will agree soon, according to a letter from the U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court which is considering whether to hear an appeal by the detainees to be released.

Another four Uighurs have already been moved to Bermuda from the controversial U.S. military prison which President Barack Obama has pledged to close by January 2010. At present there are still some 226 detainees at the facility.

VIDEO: Rachel Maddow's Palau report... amended

By GottaLaff

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Rachel may have been mistaken about this one:

U.S. and Palau officials said Wednesday that the island nation was not taking the Uighurs in return for additional U.S. aid.

But Palau already was set to receive a big boost in aid from Washington. The government of Palau is renegotiating a compact with the United States, first signed in 1994, that could add as much as $200 million in coming years, U.S. officials have said.

"This long-standing agreement . . . is not linked to any other discussions we may be having with the government of Palau," said Ian Kelly, a State Department spokesman.

Or am I missing something here?