the six - member delegation included lawyers from the justice , state , and homeland security departments , according to w . s . political accounts , which spoke on condition of details because only justice was allowed to officially conceal the mission . they were to engage a minimum of an hour with each of the uighur ( wee - luh ) captives , who are part of china ' s muslim minority and can avoid civil persecution if returned to their territory . each was abducted in afghanistan in november 2001 and handed over to u . s . forces , who interrogated them to learn about al - qaeda ' s militia practice camp construction .
Six Uighurs were captured to gain information about al-Qaeda.