Posted on 06/19/2009 8:59:35 AM PDT by SJackson
KOROR, Palau (AP) — 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.
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