Australia to take some Gitmo detainees?

CANBERRA, Australia, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Australia will only accept released Guantanamo detainees who have been thoroughly vetted, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Thursday.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd appears ready to take as many as 250 detainees, The Australian reported. The U.S. government has asked 100 countries for help in resettling detainees who have been cleared for release but cannot be returned to their home countries.

President-elect Barack Obama has promised to close the detention center at the U.S. naval base on Cuba. But U.S. law, with a broad definition of providing material support for terrorism, makes allowing any of the detainees to settle there unlikely. The U.S. position has helped make other countries reluctant to take them.

Many of the detainees in legal limbo are Uighurs from China and members of similar groups who could face persecution if they return home.

Britain has said it would accept some detainees and some other European countries appear ready to follow suit, the report said.