WASHINGTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the release in the United States of 17 Chinese Muslims who have been held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, a landmark ruling that dealt a major setback to the Bush administration.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina read his ruling from the bench at a hearing to consider the appeals by the members of the Uighur ethnic group, who are seeking their release from the military prison and and asking to come to the United States.

The judge said there was no evidence the detainees, who have been held at Guantanamo for nearly seven years, were "enemy combatants" or a security risk, and that the U.S. Constitution prohibits indefinite detention without cause.

The ruling was a setback for the Bush administration, which argued that federal judges do not have the authority to order the release into the United States of the detainees.

Attorneys for the prisoners said the ruling marked the first time that a federal court had ever ordered the release into the United States of any prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay.

The Uighurs remain at the prison even though the U.S. military no longer considers them "enemy combatants." The United States has been unable to find a country willing to accept the Uighurs. (Editing by David Alexander)

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