Five ethnic Uighurs who had been captured in Afghanistan and held in Guantanamo Bay by the U.S. military after being declared not enemy combatants were released to Albania on Friday, ending a protracted court battle over their continued detention.

The Uighurs are part of a Turkic ethnic group living mainly in China who follow the Muslim faith and face persecution from the Chinese government. They had been picked up in Afghanistan after the U.S. led invasion of that country following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

While the five had been declared not enemy combatants by a military tribunal, the U.S. did not release them back to their home country, because it said that they would face persecution from the Chinese government.

“The Pentagon paid $5,000 to a bounty hunter, and it got taken,” said Sabin Willett, a Boston attorney who represented one of the five in court proceedings which the government filed a motion to dismiss as moot on Friday.

The move to Albania meant the US government could, “avoid having to answer in court for keeping innocent men in jail,” lawyer Barbara Olshansky said.

The Uighur-American Association called the men’s release “incredible news”.

“It’s all been very sudden and unexpected, but we understand that all five men are healthy and happy to be free, if a little bewildered by events,” Nury Turkel, the association’s president, said. — BBC News

The State Department Friday called Albania’s agreement to resettle the five “an important humanitarian gesture.” Albania has agreed to process their requests for asylum.

“Our key objective has been to resettle the Uighurs in an environment that will permit them to rebuild their lives,” said a Department of Defense statement Friday.

I guess an apology is too much to ask, eh? How many more innocent people are in Gitmo and how long will it take for them to get out?