A district court had said it was wrong for the Bush administration to continue holding the Muslim Uighurs from China, as it had no evidence against them.

The White House then appealed, saying the original ruling - the first of its kind - could set a dangerous precedent.

Captured in Afghanistan in 2001, the group has been held without charge.

Under the original ruling, they were to be brought to court on Friday, and then freed to stay with members of the Uighur community in the Washington area.

The appeal court ruling puts a temporary halt to the release to allow lawyers for both sides to present further arguments over the coming week.

The Uighurs had been cleared

for release in 2004 but the US says they may face persecution if returned to China.

The White House said if they were released it could set a precedent that would allow "sworn enemies" to seek US entry.

The government says the 17 also pose a security risk if released into the US.

But in the original ruling, District Judge Ricardo Urbina said there was no evidence that they were "enemy combatants" or a security risk.

Lawyers for the Bush administration have argued that federal judges do not have authority to order the release into the US of Guantanamo detainees.

The Bush administration has maintained that if they cannot be returned home and no other country will take them,

they should stay at Guantanamo.

In 2006, five Uighur Muslim men released from Guantanamo Bay were flown to Albania for resettlement.

The 17 Uighurs involved in the current case had been living in a camp in Afghanistan during the US-led military campaign that began in October 2001.

They fled into the mountains and were held by Pakistani authorities who handed them over to the US.

Beijing has demanded that all Uighurs held at Guantanamo be repatriated to China.

Many Muslim Uighurs from Xinjiang in western China want greater autonomy for the region and some want independence.

Beijing has waged a campaign against the Muslim Uighurs' freedom activities.