China on Thursday pressed the United States to hand over 17 Uighur Muslims Bush admin appeal blocked their release from Guantanamo.

China describes the men as "suspects" who must face the "sanction of the law".

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said "we hope the U.S. will take this seriously and repatriate to China as soon as possible these 17 "suspects."

Washington has said it cannot return them to China because they would face persecution there.

A U.S. federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily blocked their release, granting the Bush administration's request for a stay of a judge's order that they be released into the United States at the end of this week.

In a rebuke to the Bush administration, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina ruled on Tuesday there was no evidence the detainees were "enemy combatants" or a security risk.

But a three-judge federal panel then granted the stay to give an appeals court more time to consider the dispute.

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.

Many Muslim Uighurs, who are from East Turkistan in China, seek greater autonomy for the region and some want independence. Beijing has waged a relentless campaign against independence activities.

The Uighurs had been living in a camp in Afghanistan during the U.S.-led bombing campaign that began in October 2001. They fled into the mountains and were detained by Pakistani authorities, who handed them over to the United States.

There are about 255 detainees at Guantanamo, which was set up in January 2002. Most have been held for years without being charged and many have complained of abuse, torture.


Historical records show that the Uyghurs have a history of more than 4000 years. Throughout the history the Uyghurs developed a unique culture and civilization and made remarkable contribution to the civilization of the world.

East Turkistan has 8 million Uighurs.

The Uyghurs Islam in 934, during the reign of Satuk Bughra Khan, the Kharahanid ruler. Since that time on the Islam continuously served Uyghurs as the only religion until today.

After embracing Islam the Uyghurs continued to preserve their cultural dominance in Central Asia. World renowned Uyghur scholars emerged, and Uyghur literature flourished. Among the hundreds of important works surviving from this era are the Kutat-ku Bilik by Yusuf Has Hajip (1069-70), Divan-i Lugat-it Turk by Mahmud Kashgari, and Atabetul Hakayik by Ahmet Yukneki.

East Turkistan was occupied by the communist China in 1949 and its name was changed in 1955. The communist China has been excersizing a colonial rule over the East Turkistan since then.

Agencies