The six-member delegation included lawyers from the Justice, State, and Homeland Security Departments, according to U.S. military sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because only Justice was allowed to officially disclose the mission. They were to spend a minimum of one hour with each of the Uighur (WEE-gur) captives, who are part of China's Muslim minority and who risk religious persecution if returned to their homeland. Each was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001 and handed over to U.S. forces, who interrogated them to learn about al-Qaeda's paramilitary training camp structure.
Six Uighurs were captured to gain information about al-Qaeda.