The FBI has reached out to muslim clerics and is turning them into informants in its war against terror.

In response to the Sept. 11 attacks, the F.B.I. and other counterterrorism authorities have pursued a campaign to recruit Muslims like Mr. Konaté as informers. As part of this effort in New York, the agency recently created a "citizen academy," where more than two dozen Muslim clerics and business leaders completed a course of eight evening sessions in January. Although they are not considered full-fledged informers, they have helped the F.B.I. chase down terrorist suspects by posting their pictures in mosques.

Not all of the clerics are eager to participate.

Concerned about implicating innocent people and perhaps alienating the faithful who look to them for counsel, some Muslim clerics say they are also put off by an awareness of the F.B.I.'s history, especially its surveillance of black leaders during the civil rights era. Their mistrust has only deepened since the government made accusations against mosques in the New York City area — notably Al Farooq in Brooklyn, which was said in a federal affidavit last month to have funneled money to Al Qaeda.

There's also a chilling effect on the mosque members.

Already, some mosques in the area say they are noticing a drop in attendance, and some worshipers who still go say they no longer feel at liberty to engage in discussions for fear they are being spied on.

As one iman quoted in the article said, his advice for other imans is, "Be very careful"--about trusting the F.B.I.