Premier Ewart Brown's decision to bring four Guantánamo Bay detainees to Bermuda has prompted his critics to hold a march outside Parliament this lunchtime.

But the organisers insisted last night that the 12.30 p.m. demonstration, which they expect hundreds to attend, will not be against the four Chinese Uighurs who arrived on the Island last Wednesday, but against Dr. Brown's "one-man" style of rule.

Janice Battersbee, a lifelong PLP supporter, told The Royal Gazette: "I need to make it absolutely clear that the issue we have is not based on the humanitarian part of this issue, it's based on the lack of due process in decision making."

She added: "We just feel that it's time for the Premier to step down. This is a call for him to resign."

Meanwhile, Dr. Brown supporter and Workers' Voice editor LaVerne Furbert has organised what she described in an e-mail yesterday as a "counter-attack".

Ms Furbert said the Premier had made clear why he took the decision to offer asylum to Abdulla Abdulqadir, Salahidin Abdulahad, Ablikim Turahun and Khalil Mamut and had explained why the plan to bring them here had to be shrouded in secrecy.

She wrote: "I am satisfied with his reasoning and I hope that you are as well. As I see it, you cannot say you don't have a problem with Bermuda giving asylum to the Uighurs and, at the same time, crucify the man who made it happen.

"I am now appealing to my friends and family, and those other Bermudians who support the move by Dr. Brown, to show our support for him at 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday as well. In other words, let's have a counter-attack."

The march against Dr. Brown will begin at the House of Assembly and end at the Cabinet Office. Ms Furbert's counter-demonstration will take place outside the Cabinet Office at 12.30 p.m. She is asking supporters of the Premier to wear PLP T-shirts and bring placards.

Dr. Brown announced on Thursday morning that he had agreed to offer sanctuary to the former prisoners after they spent more than seven years in Guantánamo Bay, where they were twice cleared by the US of being "enemy combatants".

He admitted that he had done so without consulting Government House, something Governor Sir Richard Gozney and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office later said was unacceptable.

The revelation prompted what the Premier described on Friday as a "firestorm", with international media descending on the Island and locals furiously debating the decision on talk radio shows.

The Opposition tabled a motion of no-confidence in the Premier on Friday, which will be voted on before the current parliamentary session ends, and a handful of PLP MPs criticised his actions in the House that day.

Over the weekend, as the four men got acclimatised to Bermuda and conducted countless interviews with local and foreign press, e-mails outlining today's march were circulating the Island.

But not everyone agreed with the plan to protest. One woman wrote to the organisers to say: "I have received your request for support against the Premier — sorry, no can do. My suggestion to you is: stop being a hater."

Another woman, who is planning to protest against Dr. Brown, wrote: "Our argument is not about these men. It is the fact that we, the people of Bermuda, have elected members of Parliament to represent us and these persons were not shown the respect due to them as our voices.

"We are a British colony and the Constitution states that decisions of this magnitude should be discussed with the Governor... this was not done."

One of the organisers of the protest against Dr. Brown, who would not be named, told this newspaper that the demonstration was not connected to a group on Facebook calling themselves Bermudians Against Terrorists (BAT). The BAT Facebook page — which states that the group was created "due to the recent importation of four Chinese Muslim detainees from the Guantánamo Bay facility" and carries a picture of a balaclava-clad man bearing a machine gun — had more than 460 members by last night.

The unnamed organiser said: "I have no idea who they are. The issue has nothing to do with the four men. It was just the final straw. "

Mrs. Battersbee said: "We are not here to judge these gentlemen. We are talking about our rights as voting citizens."

The UK has said it will conduct its own security review of the men to ascertain if they can stay on the Island and seen Bermudian status.

Sir Richard said yesterday: "No further news yet on the security assessment on the four ex-Guantanamo Uighurs: the experts in London as well as the Bermuda Police Service are at work."