Police have still not completed a security review of the four Uighurs from Guantánamo Bay — almost a month after they arrived in Bermuda.

Governor Sir Richard Gozney said yesterday that it was through no fault of Bermuda Police Service that the checks had not been done, but was due to vital information still not being provided.

He told The Royal Gazette: "It is disappointing but we are still seeking the information which the Bermuda Police Service need in order to make security assessments of the four Uighurs.

"The Bermuda Police are stymied through no fault of their own. I hope, and have some reason to believe, that our requests and needs are being looked at again."

Asked who had failed to provide the necessary information, Sir Richard said: "I'm not going to be specific. But you'd be wrong to think that it was information available on Bermuda or from any entity in Bermuda or the UK."

It was not possible to reach anyone in the US Department of Justice yesterday to see if it or any other US government department is responsible for the information failing to get sent here. Sir Richard said yesterday that the UK and US were still in talks about whether the former prisoners, who landed here on a private plane from Cuba on June 11, would stay or go elsewhere.

"On the wider issue of the four Uighurs, the British Government are still in discussion with the United States Government," said the Governor. "Bermuda's interests and concerns are being made clear."

Premier Ewart Brown sparked what he described as a "negative firestorm" after deciding to bring the men here last month without seeking Britain's permission. He told MPs and the media that the Uighurs had been deemed a zero security risk by the Police Commissioner — but later admitted he'd made the statement based on wrong information provided to him.

Commissioner George Jackson, who declined to comment yesterday, said on June 16 that a "preliminary threat assessment" of the ex-prisoners conducted on June 12 described them as "high risk".

He added: "The public should not be unduly alarmed at the designation of 'high risk'. The status of 'high' has been arrived at largely because of the lack of specific information that has been made available.

"It is therefore not possible at this time to put any further context around the assessment until a number of questions have been answered."

The four Uighurs, who spent seven years at Guantánamo, were twice cleared by the US of being "enemy combatants"; the men's lawyers have described them as never having been involved in any terrorist activity.

The Premier's press secretary said last night that Dr. Brown had no comment.