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[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH] MARY LOSURE: Every day, Osman Mahmoud Ahmed listens to the Somali language broadcast on the BBC to hear news of a country he no longer calls home. He and his wife and children fled from Somalia's Civil War in 1991 and now live in Saint Paul. For years, they've been trying to bring her 77-year-old mother and two other relatives to join them.

OSMAN MAHMOUD AHMED: First, we apply December 1998, but they sent us back one paper to correct one name.

MARY LOSURE: Finally, the family learned their relatives had been given case numbers and scheduled for an interview and screening. It was to take place in October of 2001.

OSMAN MAHMOUD AHMED: But because of the September 11, they delay. They canceled that interview. And since then, they not call back. Dr. Abdul Rahman Mohamed has seen a different story. Many of his patients are Somali refugees who suffer from post-traumatic stress from their experiences in Africa. After September 11, he says a number of those patients had to be hospitalized. One was a young woman who was 12 when her family was killed. She spent years as a refugee before coming here.

ABDUL RAHMAN MOHAMED: She's happily married with children. And early October of last year, she had a complete mental breakdown, where one night, she woke up claiming that she knew who's responsible for the events of the September 11, and named names, and completely had a total breakdown.

MARY LOSURE: Mohamed says other factors added to the stress on Somalis. In November, President Bush announced that a Somali-owned money wiring service called Al-Barakat was linked to terrorism. The government claimed the company was skimming money and funding terrorist groups. In Minneapolis, federal agents shut down five wire service offices used by Somali immigrants to send money to relatives in Africa.

ABDUL RAHMAN MOHAMED: When the Al-Barakat was closed and everybody felt that others would be closed, families back home were calling. Would I be getting this month's money? What's going to happen? People here didn't know. Some people even went as far as, should I even go to these places and send money? Can they trace me back? We tell them sending money is not the crime.

MARY LOSURE: Last month, the US Department of Justice removed two of the wire services from its terrorism list. Nearly $500,000 will be returned to customers, mostly Somali immigrants. A year later, no terrorism-related charges have been filed against any of the closed businesses. But the wire service shutdown was not the only problem. The traditional headscarves of Somali women make them highly visible as Muslims. After September 11, Somalis such as Abdulkadir Addow feared anti-Muslim backlash.

ABULKADIR ADDOW: Like, for instance, my wife, right after September 11, I won't let her go to the grocery store after dark just by herself.

MARY LOSURE: Addow says sometimes, when his family is out walking, people yell slurs at them. He worries about how that will affect his four young children.

ABULKADIR ADDOW: One little story I would like to share with you is my boy who is 6 years old, he's a first grader. Last year, he has been hearing a lot about Osama bin Laden and the government looking for him. And he asked me one day, he said, is government looking for this man to kill? Because that's what he has been hearing. And I said, yes. And I said, is the government going to kill us and all Muslims? He's six years old.

MARY LOSURE: In December, the FBI and local law enforcement officers began questioning recently emigrated Muslim men. In February, in an unrelated incident, 10 Somali men from Minnesota were deported. Addow says such news spreads quickly.

ABULKADIR ADDOW: What we hear in the community is so-and-so has been detained, so-and-so has been deported, so-and-so has been interrogated, all that kind of thing, it will also create more fear. I'm not saying they're not doing the job, the INS, but said, why now?

MARY LOSURE: A spokesperson for the INS says Somali deportation numbers have not increased and have no connection to the events of September 11. US attorney for Minnesota, Tom Heffelfinger, believes the fear expressed by the community stems partly from Somalis' mistrust of authority due to their experiences in their home country. He says added to that is a refugee population's unfamiliarity with the American system.

TOM HEFFELFINGER: I recall one community meeting in December, where a lady who had come to the United States within the last year, spoke no English, was asking me if it was true that the FBI could watch her every time she turned on her television set.

MARY LOSURE: Heffelfinger says his office has been working hard to reach out to the Somali community. It's partly to gather information from recent immigrants who may know about terrorist groups operating in their home country. He says it's also because his office wants to learn of civil rights violations that may be committed against Somalis. And not all Somalis say they're afraid. Hani Hossein says other than one person who spit at her after September 11, she's not experienced any problems. She says instead, many Americans have made an effort to learn more about Muslims and their culture.

HANI HOSSEIN: We talk about September 11 and come to find out exactly who I am and what I stand for, my belief and my opinion of things, that I'm a person of peace.

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MARY LOSURE: On a hot Friday afternoon, Hossein and other worshippers sit on carpets on the floor and listen to the sermon at the Al-Taqwa Mosque. The imam urges them to be strong at a difficult time for Muslims across the world. Then the final prayers begin.

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On the walls are photographs of mosques in other countries. One shows an interior with tall marble columns and intricately patterned floors. Another shows a vast dome gleaming against the sky. But here in St Paul, the mosque is a few rooms above an Asian grocery store. Soon, they'll open the doors and walk downstairs into the outside world. I'm Mary Losure, Minnesota Public Radio.

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