Immigration Minister David Burch said last night that the issue of the base lands clean-up was back up for discussion thanks to Bermuda's newly improved relationship with the US.

Senator Burch appeared on ZBM television news to answer questions about the arrival here last Wednesday of four detainees from Guantánamo Bay.

Asked what the Island would get in return for taking in the men as a favour to the States, he said there was no quid pro quo. "There is no 'if you do this, then you get this, this and this'," he said.

But Sen. Burch admitted that the decision to allow the Chinese Uighurs to come here, after other countries turned down requests from the US, had enhanced the friendship between the two countries.

"Last week Monday when we talked with the US, we had a certain relationship with them. This week, it's at a different level because we have done something that has greatly assisted the US."

The Minister said an example of how the Island could benefit was the thorny and costly issue of cleaning up the former US military bases.

"The fact that that's back on the table as an item for discussion suggests that the friendship is such that we can get it back on the table," he said.

Sen. Burch, appearing on screen alongside the four Muslims who arrived here last Wednesday, told viewers: "Bermuda has led the world."

The Minister said that when he flew out to Cuba to accompany the men back on a private plane, he told himself: "Burch boy, this is major. Are you really believing in your heart of hearts this is the right thing to do? And I said, yes."

He said he had no regrets about the decision to allow the men to come here or the fact that it was done without the UK's knowledge.

"We are a people who help other humans and it's on those grounds that we got to this point in being able to help these four men who are innocent," he said.