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Australia may take Guantanomo men Australia could refuse detainees
(about 11 hours later)
Australia has said it is considering a United States request to take in prisoners from the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay. Australia will probably reject a US request to take in prisoners from the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, the acting prime minister has said.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, said the government had been approached to accept detainees. Julia Gillard said Washington made the request in early December, after US President-elect Barack Obama announced he planned to close the camp.
This would help the American President-elect, Barack Obama, to close the camp after he takes office. Ms Gillard said Australia was still considering its response, but was unlikely to accept.
Ms Gillard said Australia would apply strict security screening before accepting anyone from Guantanamo. About 255 people are still being held at Guantanamo Bay.
Earlier, the UK joined Portugal in pressing other European countries to take in prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. More than 60 of these men have been cleared for release, but cannot be repatriated for fear they will be persecuted when they get back home.
UK pressure
The US State Department has asked about 100 countries for help clearing Guantanamo Bay over a two-year period, The Australian newspaper reported.
Australia had rejected a similar request to resettle "a small group of detainees" in early 2008, Ms Gillard said, and would probably do so again.
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She added that, to be considered at all, the detainees "would have to meet Australia's strict legal requirement and go through normal rigorous assessment processes".
Ms Gillard is filling in for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd while he is on holiday.
The UK and Portugal are pressing other European countries to take in prisoners from Guantanamo Bay.
While Britain has not directly offered asylum, it said it accepted the US would need help closing the facility.While Britain has not directly offered asylum, it said it accepted the US would need help closing the facility.
But the Foreign Office said it was "not pushing for a deal" to allow more Guantanamo inmates into the UK.But the Foreign Office said it was "not pushing for a deal" to allow more Guantanamo inmates into the UK.
"For anyone to be accepted they would have to meet Australia's strict legal requirement and go through normal rigorous assessment processes," Ms Gillard said in a statement.
Ms Gillard's office said it had not been decided who would be considered for intake and under what conditions.
Unpopular?
The BBC's Phil Mercer says that Australian newspapers are speculating that the number of prisoners accepted would be small.
Opposition politicians have said the plan is "completely and utterly unacceptable".
Australian David Hicks was the first Guantanamo detainee to be convictedAustralian media said the government would accept no "wholesale intake" from Guantanamo and conservative opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd should immediately rule out support for the plan. Mr Rudd is currently on leave.
"What [Mr Rudd] has agreed to, with the Americans, is to accept Guantanamo Bay inmates for resettlement in Australia, in our community, as migrants, and that is completely and utterly unacceptable to the Australian people," Mr Turnbull told local radio.
The US State Department last week asked around 100 countries for help clearing the camp of detainees over a two-year period, the Australian newspaper reported.
About 255 men are still held at the Guantanamo naval base, including 60 the United States has cleared for release but cannot repatriate for fear they will be tortured or persecuted in their home countries.
Conditions and treatment at the camp opened the US to accusations of torture.
AlliesAllies
Australia is a close ally of the United States and although it has pulled its combat forces out of Iraq, Canberra remains committed to the campaign in Afghanistan. Kevin Rudd's centre-left Labor Party, which came to power in 2007, has often criticised the conditions and treatment of inmates in the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay.
An Australian man, David Hicks, was the first detainee held at Guantanamo Bay to be convicted of supporting terrorism. While in opposition, Mr Rudd's party demanded the repatriation of two Australians being held there.
One of them, Mamdouh Habib, was released from the camp without charge in 2005.
The other, David Hicks, was the first detainee held at Guantanamo Bay to be convicted of supporting terrorism.
He was allowed to return home in May 2007 after pleading guilty.He was allowed to return home in May 2007 after pleading guilty.
Another Australian, Mamdouh Habib, was released from the US military prison without charge in 2005.