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A US federal judge has again ordered the US government to release Guantanamo records.

The United States Government must release documents within 30 days relating to the treatment of prisoners held at American overseas detention centres, including Guantanamo Bay and Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, a US federal judge ordered.

Manhattan Federal Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein says the Bush administration has responded at a "glacial pace" to requests for the documents, first made in October 2003.

"If the documents are more of an embarrassment than a secret, the public should know of our Government's treatment of individuals captured and held abroad," he said.

"Merely raising national security concerns cannot justify unlimited delays," he said.