US judge blocks Guantanamo move

There are still about 340 detainees at Guantanamo

A US federal judge has blocked the US military from sending a Guantanamo Bay detainee to Tunisia because of allegations he would be tortured.

It would be a "profound miscarriage of justice" to transfer Mohammed Abdul Rahman ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on detainee rights, the judge said.

Human rights groups say the ruling is unprecedented, and the first direct intervention by a judge in such a case.

Tunisia has denied Mr Abdul Rahman's claims that it practises torture.

However, a report by the US state department published earlier this year said the Tunisian government continued "to commit serious human rights abuses".

Citing human rights groups, the report said the Tunisian security forces used sleep deprivation, electric shocks, submersion of the head in water, beatings and cigarette burns.