The United States government has asked a federal judge to halt plans for releasing videotapes showing a Guantanamo Bay hunger striker being force-fed his meals.

In court papers filed on Wednesday night, the Justice Department told US District Judge Gladys Kessler that the government may appeal an order by the judge that would, for the first time, lead to disclosure of classified information in a proceeding involving a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay.

The Justice Department told Kessler that she was substituting the court's judgment for that of executive branch officials, contrary to established precedent.

The government asked Kessler to halt the process that has been set up to enable the release of the tapes.

The footage is said to show how a prisoner on hunger strike at the Guantanamo Bay facility is forcibly removed from his cell, strapped to a restraining chair and force-fed liquid meals.

A lawyer of the prisoners said the video iwas “hard to watch”.

Guantanamo Bay is located in Cuba, but is under the control of the US. It holds a US military detention facility, which US President Barack Obama has failed to close, despite his campaign promise to do so.