Two days after the six men were secretly flown from the US naval base in Cuba, one of the six former prisoners expressed gratitude to the Palau government.

"Our overall feeling about Palau is their generous support is quite good. I am very appreciative of the support by the Palauan government," said Abdul Ghappar Abdul Rahman through a translator.

Palauans were mostly welcoming of the six Uighurs, despite widespread misgivings initially when President Johnson Toribiong announced in June he had agreed to give a temporary home to the men.

"Six men are not going to hurt anybody here, it's a small sacrifice for Palau for our friend, the United States. We welcome them here," said Sebastian Andreas, a retiree whose son is serving in Afghanistan.

Alfonso Diaz, a senator in the Palau legislature, also runs a radio show and said feedback from listeners had been positive.

"We accept them and treat them as part of the community. We do not reject people," he said.

Businessman Donald Haruo runs a resort catering for Japanese tourists and he said it was important the government reassured people the men were no threat.

"Helping the Uighurs is good, but tour agencies from Japan are concerned about their presence in Palau," he said.

The Uighurs were transferred to Palau, a former US-administered territory which achieved independence in 1994, as part of US President Barack Obama's promise to close the controversial prison.

His administration has acknowledged it may not meet a self-imposed deadline of January 2010 for shutting the facility.

The six Uighurs had been held at Guantanamo despite being cleared of all charges.

"We would like to reiterate our gratitude to the government of Palau for its generous offer to receive these Uighurs," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters Monday.

Palau has agreed to take up to 12 Uighurs. Seven remain at Guantanamo, where 215 "war on terror" suspects are still held.

On Monday Beijing expressed anger over the release of the Uighurs, describing them as terrorist suspects who should be repatriated to China.

"These people should have been handed to China to be dealt with in accordance with the law," foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement.

The former prisoners were among 22 Uighurs -- a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority from China's remote Xinjiang region -- living at a self-contained camp in Afghanistan when the US-led invasion of the country began in October 2001.

Five were released to Albania in 2006, and four were resettled in Bermuda this year, with the United States fearing they would be persecuted if returned to China.

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