Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The Bush administration is asking an appeals court to block a judge's order that requires the release into the U.S. of 17 ethnic Uighur Chinese Muslims held at Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina in Washington ruled today that President George W. Bush's administration must free the detainees because it no longer considers them to be enemy combatants. The judge ordered the men brought to his courtroom in Washington in three days to be released into the custody of local Uighur families under terms to be worked out with the Department of Homeland Security.

``Today's ruling presents serious national security and separation of powers concerns and raises unprecedented legal issues,'' Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said in a statement. ``The government does not believe that it is appropriate to have these foreign nationals removed from government custody and released into the United States.''

Roehrkasse said the Justice Department will ask an appellate court to put the order on hold while the government pursues an appeal.

The Uighurs, who have been held for almost seven years, are among an estimated 225 detainees remaining at Guantanamo Bay. The facility once had more than 770 occupants, most of whom have been returned to their home nations or to countries that agreed to take them.

Cleared for Release

While the Uighur detainees were cleared for release in 2004, the government said it couldn't find any country willing to accept them and feared they would be persecuted if returned to China.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang urged the U.S. to return the Uighur detainees to China.

``China has already demanded that the U.S. repatriate the Chinese terrorists,'' Qin said at a regular briefing in Beijing. ``We hope the U.S. side can look seriously at China's position and repatriate these people as soon as possible.''

The Bush administration argued it has wartime authority to hold the men indefinitely even if they aren't enemy combatants.

``We're absolutely thrilled,'' Sabin Willett, lead lawyer for the men, said following Urbina's order in a courtroom packed with dozens of jubilant Uighur men and women wearing traditional embroidered caps. ``It's a wonderful example of how our justice system can work.''

`Deeply Concerned'

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement the administration is ``deeply concerned'' about the ruling. ``This decision, we believe, is contrary to our laws, including federal immigration statutes passed by Congress,'' she said.

The Supreme Court ruled in June that Guantanamo Bay inmates have constitutional rights and may seek release in federal court. A U.S. appeals court then ordered the government to release one of the Uighur detainees, Huzaifa Parhat, transfer him out of Guantanamo or give him a new hearing.

Lawyers for Parhat, who said he fled China because of his opposition to government policies, had argued that the Chinese government was the source of allegations against him.

The Defense Department didn't contend that Parhat or the other Uighur detainees were members of al-Qaeda or committed hostile acts against this country. Instead, it claimed they were ``affiliated'' with a Uighur independence group that was ``associated'' with al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

There are 400 Uighur families in the Washington area, and the detainees will be taken in to some of their homes upon release, said Rebia Kadeer, president of the World Uighur Congress, who attended today's hearing.

``I will take one and my daughter will take one,'' Kadeer said, speaking through an interpreter. ``We are not terrorists.''

The combined case is In Re: Guantanamo Bay Detainee Litigation, 08-442, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cary O'Reilly in Washington at caryoreilly@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 7, 2008 21:23 EDT