KOROR, Palau - At the call to prayer, the men turn one-by-one down a narrow path through the jungle, marked only by a towering coconut tree.
Hidden at the end of the dirt track stands the sole mosque in Koror, home to more than two-thirds of people in Palau, the tiny Pacific nation that has agreed to take in a group of Chinese Muslim detainees from Guantanamo Bay.
The mosque is perched on bamboo stilts and held together by a patchwork of corrugated metal. For the small group of about 500 Muslims in this predominantly Christian nation, this is a spiritual sanctuary.
Most are workers from Bangladesh, who began landing on this remote archipelago over a dozen years ago, seeking better jobs and peace.
Reflecting local sentiment, they expressed mixed feelings Friday about the expected arrival of 13 Guantanamo detainees. They are protective of their adopted society and the lives they have built.
Haranou Rashid, a Bangladeshi chicken farmer who has lived in Palau for 13 years, said the news makes him nervous.
"Palauans like us," the 40-year-old said. "We do not make any trouble here. But when newcomers arrive, maybe they are not good."
If one Muslim causes problems, Rashid said, it would hurt all Muslims in Palau.
Palau made global headlines last week when it agreed to U.S. President Barack Obama's request to take a group of Uighurs -- Turkic Muslims from China's far western Xinjiang region.
The Uighurs were captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001 and then held at the U.S. prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which Obama has vowed to close. The Pentagon determined last year that the Uighurs were not "enemy combatants," but the men have been stuck in legal limbo since then.
The United States asked Palau for help after other countries turned it down. Four other Uighurs left Guantanamo last week for a new home in Bermuda.
George Clarke, a Washington-based attorney representing two of the Uighurs, said his clients have asked about the religious facilities in Palau.
Any Muslim -- regardless of their past -- is welcome to pray at the mosque in Koror, said Mohi Uddi, 32, president of the Bangladesh Association.
Uddi, a maintenance worker, has lived in Palau for more than a decade. He says he is not worried about the Uighurs because if they come, it is Allah's will.
"If they are real Muslims, they have to follow what our Quran says," said Uddi, adding that he does not tolerate the violence embraced by extremists.
Palau is among the smallest countries in the world, with some 20,000 people scattered over 490 square kilometres of tropical islands. A third of the population is foreign, mainly Filipinos. About 450 Bangladeshis live in Palau, and the vast majority of them are Muslim.
There are only two mosques in the whole country.
While Bangladeshi workers are quick to praise Palau's beauty, life is hardly idyllic for them and other low-skilled laborers.
The minimum wage for Palauans is $2.50 an hour. For foreign workers, it's $1.50. The Division of Labor says it sees a regular stream of foreign workers complaining about low salaries and mistreatment by their Palauan employers.
In December 2005, the government issued a moratorium on new workers from Bangladesh. The number of Bangladeshi workers jumped from 163 in 2004 to 425 in 2005, according to a UN refugee agency report in 2007.
"Language barriers and fraud among recruiters have resulted in social tensions and problems for the Palauan government, which does not have formal diplomatic ties with Bangladesh," the report said.
Anowar Hossain, a Bangladeshi construction worker, says Muslims tend to stick to themselves. Few locals, for example, know where to find the mosque.
Still, he describes Palau as a "nice country" with gorgeous waters and mountains. And for now, it is home.
"I try not to worry about (the Uighurs)," said Hossain, 34. "If they come, they are welcome here."
Mujahid Hussein, Palau's only Pakistani, said he does not know enough about the Uighurs to determine whether they embrace Islam's core tenet of peace. He has never had any problems as a Muslim in Palau and describes his 10 years here as "good and simple."
"We Muslims hate terrorism," said Hussein, 36. "We do not consider terrorists Muslims. If (the Uighurs) are clear of terrorism, then we have no problem."
