FBI, New Jersey Police Looking for Muslims

Continued from page 1

``Sure, people will have reservations,'' said Mohamed Younes, the group's president. ``But we are part of this community - all of it. You can't complain that someone doesn't know you or understand you if you don't make an effort to teach them. We are as American as anybody else, and this country's problems are our problems, too.''

The need for Arab-American officers and agents is great. Of the more than 300 FBI agents assigned to New Jersey, not one speaks Arabic, though the bureau has one staff translator, spokeswoman Sandra Carroll said.

Paterson is where a half-dozen of the hijackers rented an apartment shortly before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Candidates must be U.S. citizens who have completed four years of college and can pass a written and physical test and a background check. Applicants not accepted for agent training could still work for the agency as translators.

``The pitch will be no different than it would to any other group,'' said John Page, supervisory agent in the FBI's West Paterson office. ``We're hoping to convey that it would be a terrific occupation that would let them serve their country.''

Residents like Erikenoglu are skeptical.

``It sounds like they're looking for people from the community to use to get at other people in the community,'' he said.

``Are these people going to be used as pawns against the community?'' asked Hani Awadallah, president of the Paterson-based Arab-American Civic Organization. ``You wonder.''