22 Feb 2013

Palau's missing Uighur relocates to Turkey

12:32 pm on 22 February 2013

It has been confirmed that a former detainee at the Guantanamo Bay US military prison who was reported missing from Palau last week has resettled in Turkey.

Adel Noori was one of six Uighur men, Muslims from China's restive Xinjiang region, who were resettled in Palau four years ago.

The six were resettled after a US judge ordered their release from Guantanamo, where they were imprisoned since 2002 for alleged ties to terrorist groups.

Last week, Palau's government admitted it had lost track of Adel Noori last year and was investigating his whereabouts.

The Miami Herald reports that sources within the US State Department have confirmed the 43-year-old has relocated to his Turkish wife's homeland.

US officials had known since last year that Mr Noori had grown impatient with US efforts to find him and his wife a permanent home.

It's unclear how Mr Noori, who is technically stateless and has no travel documents as a condition of his transfer to Palau, reached Turkey.