Court blocks release of 17 detainees

WASHINGTON (CNN) - A federal appeals court Wednesday blocked the planned release of 17 Chinese Muslims held at Guantanamo Bay Cuba, granting the government's request to halt the plan for at least a week and likely much longer.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals granted the Bush administration's motion for an emergency stay and set up a schedule for briefings over the next week to address the complicated issues of the case.

The appeals court action is a blow to the Uyghurs held at Guantanamo Bay and their supporters who a day earlier had celebrated a lower court ruling which would have immediately freed 17 men held in U.S. custody for nearly seven years.

Justice Department attorneys overnight filed an emergency motion with a federal court in an effort to block a lower court order Tuesday that requires the detainees to be freed and brought to his Washington courtroom by 10 a.m. Friday.