U.S. court blocks Uighurs' release from Guantanamo

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily blocked the release of 17 Chinese Muslims held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The appeals court granted the Bush administration's emergency request for a stay of a federal judge's order that the members of the Uighur ethnic group be released into the United States at the end of this week.

In a sharp rebuke to the Bush administration, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina ruled on Tuesday there was no evidence the detainees, who have been held at Guantanamo for nearly seven years, were "enemy combatants" or a security risk.

He ordered that the prisoners be brought to his courtroom for a hearing on Friday morning, when they would be freed and allowed to live with Uighur families in the area.

The three-judge panel said it granted the stay only to give the appeals court more time to consider the dispute. The court ordered that briefs be filed by both sides on various dates through October 16.

It then will have decide whether the stay should remain in place. The court said the temporary, administrative stay "should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits" of the government's request.

Although the U.S. military no longer considers the Uighurs "enemy combatants," they have remained at Guantanamo because the United States has been unable to find a country willing to take them.

In seeking a stay, the Justice Department told the appeals court that diplomatic negotiations continued in an effort to find an appropriate country to send the detainees.