Earlier Toribiong said he will raise the issue of the Uighurs’ resettlement during a supposed bilateral talk with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the recent Pacific Islands Forum in Vanuatu.
However Gillard did not attend the forum and was instead represented by Stephen Smith, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Toribiong said he has not raised the issue with Smith.
“I should allow U.S. to take the lead in finding the Uighurs permanent places,” Toribiong said.
He said since the previous agreement with the U.S. indicated that Palau will only be a temporary refuge for the former detainees and that a third country will be sought to permanently house them.
After seven months on Palau, the six Uighurs issued a plea to be allowed to move to a permanent home.
At least one of the Uighurs has an Australian wife.
The Uighurs were detained at Guantanamo Bay after being found in a self-contained camp in Afghanistan when the US-led invasion of the country began in October 2001.
Although cleared of any wrongdoing four years later, they remained in detention until last year when Palau, agreed to provide a temporary home.
The US refused to send them back to China for fear they would be persecuted after Beijing described them as terrorist suspects who should be repatriated.
At least three of the Uighurs has filed applications to move permanently to Australia.
They include Edham Mamet, who recently married a Uighur woman who had been living with her two children in Australia, where her former husband drowned.
The Uighurs arrived in Palau November of last year.
The former prisoners were among 22 Uighurs found in Afghanistan who said they had fled their home region to escape persecution.
During the forum, Palau instead signed a Pacific Partnerships for Development agreement with Australia.
