International students at Iowa State and the University of Iowa are being contacted by the FBI.

Included on a list of more than 5,000 people, the FBI plans to interview these students about possible ties to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The FBI list includes men between 18 and 33 years old who have been in the United States on nonimmigrant visas since January 2000. All 5,000 men come from countries where terrorists are known to operate.

In recent weeks, a few ISU students have been contacted by the FBI and volunteered to be interviewed.

“With that certain of a time period and over 5,000 men in that age group on the list, naturally quite a few will be from universities around the country,” said Dennis Peterson, director of ISU International Education Services. “If any students have been contacted by the FBI, our office is willing and able to discuss the interview beforehand or afterward.”

According to the FBI Web site, www.fbi.gov, about 4,000 agents are working to sort through more than 450,000 tips and potential leads.

Sgt. Mike Johns, Ames Police Department, said officers helped conduct recent FBI interviews with several ISU international students, but he could not comment on the extent they were involved.

“We are working in conjunction with a federal task force in this case,” Johns said. “And my understanding is that similar interviews are occurring nationwide.”

ISU Registrar Kathy Jones said she doesn’t know if FBI agents asked the registrar’s office for information about any of the students who were questioned.

“It is possible that they came into our office, and we didn’t even know it,” she said. “As long as the information they asked for was in the directory and available to the public, like a phone number, we would have given them [it] without even knowing.”

Gary Althen, director of the University of Iowa Office of International Students and Scholars, said reliable sources told him three international students from the University of Iowa were interviewed by the FBI.

“This is happening all over the country and I have heard some students are nervous, but I also think this thing has been blown way out of proportion,” Althen said. “There are specific people around the country being questioned, and obviously the FBI has certain reasons behind their actions. “

The FBI has not contacted the University of Northern Iowa International Services department about interviews with international students, said department employee Asih Asikin.

Department employees are not aware of any UNI student who were surveyed, she said.

There are many resources available in the International Education Services office, Peterson said, as well as on the Internet for international students who are contacted by the FBI.

Information is available on the NAFSA: Association of International Educators Web site, www.nafsa.org, the American Immigration Lawyers Association Web site, www.aila.org and the ISU Muslim Student Association Web site, www.stuorg.iastate.edu/muslimsa.