Seventeen hate crimes against Muslims were reported in the second half of 2001, including the months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

In contrast, there were no reported anti-Islamic hate crimes in Colorado in 2000 and the first half of 2001.

Wadi Muhaisen, an Arab-American community leader and professor of international law at the University of Colorado at Denver, said more hate incidents have been reported to him since Sept. 11 a year ago.

"I would say that every month it ranges between five and 10 incidents that vary in severity," Muhaisen said. "I'm including racist comments as well as physical threats or some kind of physical provocation."

Muhaisen said most of the alleged incidents reported to him are either profiling by law enforcement and security authorities or verbal harassment encountered in school or the workplace. He said the majority of these incidents are not officially reported because many Muslims and Arab-Americans are distrustful or fearful of law enforcement.

Despite the increase in both official and unofficial reports, Talibuddin Syed, president of the Colorado Muslim Society Islamic Center, said the problem is far less serious in Colorado than in some other parts of the country.

"The number of incidents in Colorado aren't that many compared to a lot of larger cities where you have larger Arab populations, like New York, Los Angeles and Detroit," he said.

Reported hate crimes of all types in Colorado rose to 165 in 2001 from 107 in 2000 - a 54 percent increase, according to the CBI. Hate crimes increased nationally from 8,063 to 9,730, or about 20 percent, over the same period, according to FBI statistics.