Uighur on Palau goes missing after release from Guantanamo Bay prison

TOKYO (AP) - One of six Uighur men resettled to the tiny island of Palau after being released from the Guantanamo Bay military prison four years ago is missing, an official from the South Pacific nation said Thursday.

Adel Noori has been missing since late last year, Rhinehart Silas said by phone from Koror, Palau's largest city. Silas, the deputy chief of staff to Palau's president, said Noori had no passport and it was unclear where he went. He said the Palaun government just learned of his disappearance and was investigating.

Uighurs are Muslims from the restive region of Xinjiang in western China who often complain of discrimination there.

The six were resettled to the South Pacific nation in 2009 after a U.S. judge ordered their release from Guantanamo, where they were imprisoned for about eight years for allegedly having ties to terrorist organizations. China continues to claim they have terrorist links. The men fear that if they are sent back to China they would face long prison sentences.