Rudd: Australia may take Gitmo inmates

CANBERRA, Australia, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Friday that any decision to accept inmates from the U.S detention center at Guantanamo will be made individually.

The United States has asked about 100 countries, including Australia, to resettle detainees who have been cleared for release but cannot return to their native countries, The Australian reported. About 60 inmates at the prison camp on Cuba are in that category.

"Any determination for an individual to come to Australia would be made on a case-by-case basis," a spokesman for Rudd said. "All persons accepted to come to Australia would have to meet Australia's strict legal requirements and go through the normal and extremely rigorous assessment processes."

Rachel Siewert, a senator and member of the Green Party, said that Australia should admit no Guantanamo detainees.

"It's something they should be dealing with on home soil," she said. "We understand some can't go back to their homelands, but in those instances the U.S. government should be helping them within America."

Two Australians were detained in Guantanamo. One, David Hicks, was convicted of minor charges and released to Australia, where he served a nine-month jail term, while the other was freed without charge.