Uighur activists welcomed the deal but voiced concern for the future of the men, whose new home would be distant both geographically and culturally from the mountains and deserts of their native Xinjiang in northwestern China.

The United States cleared the men of wrongdoing four years ago but they remained at the controversial Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba due to fears they would be tortured if handed to Beijing.

Palau's President Johnson Toribiong, in a statement seen by AFP Wednesday, said he agreed to a US request to "temporarily" resettle the men as a "humanitarian gesture."

"I am honoured and proud that the United States has asked Palau to assist with such a critical task," he said, voicing hope the Uighurs would be able to "restart their lives anew in as normal fashion as possible."

Palau has a population of about 20,000 and was under US administration until 1994.

The United States is finalizing a 200 million-dollar package for the island as part of its continuing relationship, but State Department spokesman Ian Kelly denied any link with the transfer of the Uighurs.

"We express our gratitude to the government of Palau," Kelly said, while adding that discussions on transferring the men were still ongoing.

The detainees were part of a group of 22 Uighurs living in a self-contained camp in Afghanistan when the US-led invasion was launched in October 2001 in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

Five of the Uighurs have been resettled in Albania, which hesitated to accept any more after incurring the fury of China.

Xinjiang, a vast area that borders Central Asia, has about 8.3 million Uighurs, and many members of the mainly Muslim community say they have for decades suffered under Chinese political and religious persecution.

The United States is finalizing a 200 million-dollar package to Palau as part of its longstanding ties with the island. A senior State Department official adamantly denied any link with the island welcoming the Uighurs.

Palau has little to lose in relations with Beijing -- it is one of six Pacific island nations which gives formal diplomatic recognition to Taiwan rather than China.

Nury Turkel, a Uighur-American lawyer who is part of the men's legal team, voiced appreciation to Palau but said it was not an ideal solution.

"It's good that they can walk freely, but the decision wasn't made looking at their future, such as whether they can integrate into a society where they don't have any cultural or linguistic links," Turkel said.

US officials had initially hoped that the detainees could settle either in the Washington area or in Munich, southern Germany, which both have large Uighur communities.

But lawmakers -- notably Republican Frank Wolf, who represents some of Washington's suburbs in Virginia -- led a drive against resettling the men, alleging that they still posed a security risk.

Congressman Bill Delahunt, a member of Obama's Democratic Party, voiced regret the United States did not take responsibility itself to accept the men.

"Palau's President Johnson Toribiong maybe read the words of George Washington to 'give refuge to the virtuous and the persecuted,'" Delahunt said, referring to the first US president.

But Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, a close Obama ally, said the deal was an ideal way to end a "vexing problem" both at home and abroad.

Obama has vowed to shut the Guantanamo Bay detention camp -- reviled by many as a symbol of excesses during his predecessor George W. Bush's "war on terror" -- by January.

But the Senate last month refused funding to resettle into the United States any of the around 50 detainees, including the Uighurs, who are cleared for release.

Germany and other European nations have hesitated at accepting Guantanamo detainees unless the United States does so itself.

Amnesty International said the Palau deal "raises more questions than it answers," including whether the men could be reunited with their families or receive support to adapt to an unfamiliar island.

"Having been detained in limbo in Guantanamo for more than seven years, the Uighur men need more than 'temporary' half measures. They need and are owed permanent and durable solutions," said Daniel Gorevan, a campaigner with the rights group.

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