Switzerland's decision on Thursday will bring the number of Uighurs at the controversial prison in Cuba down to five from seven. The inmates have been cleared of wrongdoing but are stuck in legal limbo.

Albania, Bermuda and Palau earlier took others among the 22 Uighurs initially sent to Guantanamo Bay.

"As for the remaining five, there's no current offer on the table from Palau or anybody else is my understanding," said Susan Baker Manning, a lawyer who represents Hammad Memet, one of the five men.

"We have made efforts to try to find other resolutions for our clients," she said, while declining to comment on specifics.

"It is extremely difficult for any country that is willing to grant these men refuge, because China puts enormous pressure and protests vigorously when anybody thinks about it," she said.

President Barack Obama has pledged to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention center. But he has met opposition throughout, even in the case of the Uighurs which initially appeared it would be the easiest to resolve.

US lawmakers blocked the Uighurs from being released on US soil, even though authorities said they did not pose a risk. The men had set up a camp in Afghanistan and were turned in by bounty hunters, US authorities say.

China has sought the return of the men but the United States has refused, fearing they would face torture.

China has pressed other nations not to accept them and warned Thursday that Switzerland's decision to grant asylum to the two Uighurs would undermine relations.

Uighurs are a predominantly Muslim people in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang. Many Uighurs are critical of Chinese rule, saying that authorities deprive them of political and religious rights.

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