Former US President Bill Clinton and his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are vacationing in Bermuda, it emerged yesterday.

The Clintons are thought to have arrived by private plane on Tuesday night and are said to be staying at Cambridge Beaches though the hotel last night declined to comment.

As Secretary of State, Mrs. Clinton had written a letter to Premier Ewart Brown thanking him for agreeing to take former Guantánamo detainees four Chinese Uighurs who were brought to Bermuda without the knowledge of the Governor or Cabinet.

The row over the Uighurs escalated with the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband saying he had raised the matter with Mrs. Clinton.

The British Home Secretary Alan Johnson also got involved in the row.

It is not known if Mrs. Clinton will take time off from her Island getaway to meet with the four gentlemen Dr. Brown brought to the Island in what he described as a "humanitarian act".

Nor is it known if she will meet the Premier, or the Governor Sir Richard Gozney.

The men she referred to in her letter to Dr. Brown were twice cleared as enemy combatants by the US arrived from Cube on June 11, sparking what Dr. Brown has described as a local and international "firestorm" which resulted in high level talks between the US and UK over the fact Dr. Brown did not consult Sire Richard over the transfer.

Sir Richard has said it was a matter of foreign policy and fell under his remit while the Premier said it was an immigration matter and fell under his remit.

The Uighurs came to Bermuda because the Democratic-controlled Congress has barred the release of any Guantánamo detainees into the US, even those imprisoned by mistake, and placed additional restrictions on other transfers.

The Premier's press secretary Glenn Jones said: "The Premier won't talk publicly about the vacation plans of the Clintons — or anybody else for that matter — but he thinks very highly of any vacationer who chooses Bermuda. If the Clintons choose Bermuda, kudos to them."

Cambridge Beaches declined to comment on the Clinton's visit.