SIX men incarcerated at US concentration camp Guantanamo Bay will be resettled in Uruguay as refugees, Washington revealed today.

The group of four Syrians, a Tunisian and a Palestinian were detained in 2002 and transferred to the notorious site on suspicion of having links to al-Qaida - but not one has been charged with any crime.

Cleared for release in 2009, the six languished behind bars for another five years while US authorities pondered where to send them.

But the State Department said today that Uruguay's left-wing President Jose Mujica had offered to resettle the men as a humanitarian gesture.

"We are very grateful to President Mujica for his strong leadership in providing a home for individuals who cannot return to their own countries," department envoy Clifford Sloan said.

Reprieve lawyer Cori Crider, representing Syrian Abu Wa'el Dhiab who has been on long-term hunger strike in protest at his imprisonment, said her client was "focused on building a positive future for himself in Uruguay."

Videos of Mr Dhiab being force-fed by guards were ordered to be made public by US federal judge Gladys Kessler earlier this year as part of a legal battle over whether the army should be allowed to conduct the brutal practice.

The other Syrians due to be resettled are Ali Husain Shaaban, Ahmed Adnan Ajuri and Abdelahdi Faraj. Palestinian Mohammed Abdullah Taha Mattan and Tunisian Adel bin Muhammad El-Oureghi will join them.

A total of 136 prisoners are still held at Guantanamo, of whom 67 have been cleared for release without actually being freed.