Interviews Of Muslims To Broaden

"Within two days, I received 10 calls from people freaking out because the FBI was contacting them," said Deedra Abboud, executive director of the Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

She said that the FBI agents went out of their way to be low-key but that Muslims were fearful when they got the calls, worrying that they were under investigation themselves.

Leaders of Muslim and Arab American organizations have been trying to build bridges with federal officials since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Many say that the earlier interviews cast too wide a net and reflected the wrong approach.

"It creates fear in the community and accomplishes absolutely nothing," said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute. The Justice Department has defended earlier interviews with Middle Eastern men and Iraqi immigrants, saying they provided useful information and were a way to build contacts.

Some activists said that Muslims and Arabs were nervous about responding to the FBI, in part because thousands of immigrants wound up being deported after being contacted in earlier phases of the government's anti-terrorism campaign. Several people in the Washington area have told FBI officers that they will meet with them only if their attorney is present.

Ghafoor said he was happy to talk to the FBI. But he was concerned that they were going to people's workplaces.

"I said, 'Hey, some people lose their jobs when the FBI shows up at their offices,' " he said.

The FBI is carrying out the interviews in collaboration with the regional Joint Terrorism Task Forces, which include law enforcement officers from other agencies. Those officers have sometimes done the interviews on behalf of the FBI.

Yaser Alamoodi, a student at Arizona State University, was surprised to get a visit at home recently from a campus police officer with the local Joint Terrorism Task Force. The 27-year-old student, who is a Yemeni citizen applying for U.S. residency, said that he agreed to the interview and that the officer was friendly and polite.

Alamoodi said the questions included whether he knew anyone who had recently returned from Pakistan, anyone who had shown interest in a government building or agency or anyone who had shown extreme hostility toward Americans.

"The questions were just ridiculous," he said. "I said, 'You guys really think you're going to get anywhere with these kind of questions?' "

Alamoodi said he was puzzled about why he was selected for an interview.

"I don't go to the mosque that often," he said, "unless they have free food."

Staff writer Dan Eggen contributed to this report.