Court blocks judge's order to free Chinese Muslims

A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily blocked a judge's decision to immediately free 17 Chinese Muslims at Guantanamo Bay into the U.S.

In a one-page order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued the emergency stay at the request of the Bush administration. The three-judge panel said it would postpone release of the detainees for at least another week to give the government more time to make arguments in the case.

The appeals court set a deadline of next Thursday for additional filings but it is up to the judges to decide how quickly to act afterward.

"The decision is quite a blow," said Emi MacLean, an …