Bush administration slams order to free 17 Guantanamo detainees

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The Bush administration on Tuesday criticized a federal judge's decision to immediately free 17 Chinese Muslims at Guantanamo Bay into the US and said it would seek to block the order. Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said that the government planned to ask a federal appeals court to step in while attorneys file an appeal. He said the detainees at the US naval base in Cuba had admitted receiving weapons training in Afghanistan and were a national security risk. In a landmark decision, US District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina on Tuesday said it would be wrong for the Bush administration to continue holding the detainees, known as Uighurs, since they were no longer considered enemy combatants.