BATMAN
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US judge orders release of Guantanamo Uighurs
A federal judge in the United States has ordered the release of a group of Chinese Muslims who were at one time suspected of terrorism. The 17 ethnic Uighurs were in Afghanistan at the time of the US-led invasion and were later extradited by Pakistan to the United States.
They were held in the special prison at Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba. Earlier this year, the US government dropped its classification of them as enemy combatants under which status they had been held at Guantanamo.
However, Washington argued they could not be freed because no country was willing to accept them. It was said they could not be sent to China because they might face torture there. It is not known whether they will now be freed or whether the US justice ministry will appeal against the judge's ruling.