The asylum requests by the Uighurs, who were resettled in Albania after being released from the detention camp in Cuba in May, had been approved earlier this month, an interior ministry source who requested anonymity told AFP.

At the time of their release to Albania, China demanded the handover of the five, describing them as members of a grouping the United Nations listed as a terrorist organisation.

But Albanian authorities had indicated that they "would enquire seriously into the activities of these people" after accepting them as refugees following their release from Guantanamo.

The US government had refused the repatriation of the Uighurs to China on the basis that were not "enemy combatants". The five had been captured in Pakistan.

US authorities had asked nearly two dozen nations to provide asylum for the Uighur detainees, with all but Albania apparently refusing partly because they did not want to anger the Chinese.

Some 15 Uighurs are still believed to be in detention at the US-run camp, according to human rights groups.

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