‘Uruguay to Reject Asylum for Guantanamo Inmates’

The new Uruguayan govern­ment says it will no longer grant asylum to prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention cen­tre. In December, Uruguay gave sanctuary to six Arab men who had been held at the US base in Cuba for 12 years.

Opinion polls said most Uru­guayans rejected the decision tak­en by outgoing President Jose Mu­jica. Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa also said Uruguay would stop taking refugees from the Syr­ian conflict. Decisions on accept­ing new refugees from Syria will be put on hold “just until the end of the year,” Mr Nin Novoa said.