[JURIST] A spokesman for Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd [official website; BBC profile] said Saturday that Australia would be willing to consider acceptance of Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees on a case-by-case basis, according to a report in The Australian. Rudd's spokesman confirmed that Australia, along with other countries, has been approached by the United States concerning prisoner resettlement possibilities. Australia strongly supported US policy in the "war on terror" under the leadership of former prime minister John Howard and was complicit in the Guantanamo detention of Australian national David Hicks [JURIST news archive], who was finally transferred to Australian custody in 2007. While no final decision [JURIST report] on the closure of the detention camp has been reached, US President-elect Barack Obama [transition website] remains committed to closing the facility.

The prospect of closing Guantanamo Bay has raised concerns about where to relocate the released prisoners. US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently ordered the Pentagon [JURIST report] to draft a proposal for closing the facility in anticipation of a possible presidential order. Germany and Portugal [JURIST reports] have both stated a willingness to accept Guantanamo detainees in support of the facility's closure and have urged other countries to do so as well. The Netherlands, on the other hand, has said it will not accept detainees [AFP report] for resettlement and Spain has expressed strong reservations. The United Kingdom has said it will consider transfers on a case-by-case basis. French officials Friday suggested a unified European Union stance [JURIST report] on the issue but France has not explicitly expressed a willingness to accept detainees itself. France holds the European Union presidency through December 31.

[JURIST] The Chinese Dairy Industry Association [Light Industry backgrounder] announced Saturday that 22 companies will provide financial compensation to families whose infants were harmed by melamine-contaminated milk [JURIST news archive]. Families will receive a one-time payment of an unspecified amount, and may recover further for any future related medical expenses. In a statement quoted by the state-run Xinhua news agency, the association said: "The enterprises offered to shoulder the compensation liability. By doing so, they hope to earn understanding and forgiveness of the families of the sickened children."

News of melamine-contaminated milk first broke in September [Guardian report], leading to massive recalls [BBC report] and bankrupting the government-owned Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co. [Research and Markets profile], whose general manager and board chairwoman is scheduled to face trial next Wednesday. The contaminated milk has left six dead and 294,000 ill, according to the Ministry of Health [government website]. Six criminal trials [JURIST report] related to the scandal began Friday.

[JURIST] Ten ethnic Albanians were arrested in Serbia Friday for alleged crimes committed during the 1998-1999 Kosovo war [BBC backgrounder], according to Serb officials. The former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) [GlobalSecurity backgrounder] members, being held for questioning in Belgrade and Vranje, will likely be charged for their alleged roles in the kidnapping of 159 Serbs and the deaths of at least 51 [B92 reports]. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said Serbia will seek UN assistance in apprehending three suspects still at large.

The KLA was the ethnic Albanian guerrilla force that opposed Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive] during the war, which led to intervention by NATO forces and the bombing of Belgrade. Former Kosovo prime minister and KLA commander Ramush Haradinaj [ICTY materials, PDF; JURIST news archive] was acquitted of war crimes charges [JURIST report] by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] in April, although Kosovo Albanians have since been convicted of interfering with witnesses [JURIST report] during that trial and prosecutors are appealing.