A number of ISU international students have been “surveyed” by the FBI in the past week, but federal officials said they cannot confirm or deny the investigation.

Raymond Sidharta, an international student from Indonesia, said he was questioned by a federal agent Wednesday for about an hour in his apartment.

“They were asking us a lot of basic questions,” said Sidharta, sophomore in electrical engineering. “They started by asking really basic stuff like `What do your parents do at home’ and if you knew any victims from Sept. 11.”

The questions then turned much more serious, he said.

“Eventually, they started asking questions like `Have you ever had flying lessons?’ and `Do you know anyone who has access to the microbiology lab on campus,’ ” Sidharta said.

“They also asked if I had ever gotten mail from Indonesia that didn’t have a return address.”

James Dickson, associate professor and chairman of microbiology, said the microbiology question probably was asked in connection to the threat of bioterrorism. One interested in bioterrorism would have to have access to a microbiologist, Dickson said.

“They would have to have the potential biowarfare components and somebody that knew what they were doing,” he said.

No potential ingredients for biological weapons exist in the ISU Microbiology building, he said.

“We don’t really have any of those agents in our lab,” Dickson said. “We don’t have any of the bacteria just sitting around, and we surely don’t have any anthrax.”

Sidharta said the agents also checked his passport, visa and overstay privileges before finishing the questioning.

“I wasn’t really that nervous,” he said. “I knew that I wasn’t guilty of anything.”

Several Indonesian students are being surveyed, Sidharta said.

“Most of the people I know who are being surveyed were called by the FBI before they came,” he said. “They called me a couple of days beforehand to ask if they could conduct the survey.”

Fajar Widharta, who also is from Indonesia, said agents asked him a lot of the same questions Friday.

“They were just simple things like `Have you ever visited any other countries besides the United States?’ ” said Widharta, sophomore in electrical engineering. “They also asked me things like if I knew anybody who supported the Taliban, or if I knew anybody who supports terrorism.”

FBI agents were at his apartment for about 45 minutes before the survey was over, he said.

“I wasn’t really shocked when I found out they were interviewing me,” Widharta said.

“I already knew that they were going to come because some people I know had already talked to them.”

Permias, the ISU Indonesian Student Association, sent an e-mail to its members telling about the surveys, he said.

“The e-mail didn’t really say too much,” Widharta said. “It was basically just telling people that the FBI was on campus and preparing people for what kinds of questions they were going to ask.”

Both Sidharta and Widharta said they believe people are being surveyed as a result of the public being worried about further terrorists attacks.

Jerry Stewart, interim director of the Department of Public Safety, said the department took no part in the surveys.

“We are aware that federal officials are conducting investigations in the Ames area, but we are not directly involved with those investigations,” Stewart said.

Dennis Peterson, director of ISU International Education Services, said he was aware the federal agents were on campus, but he could not elaborate.

Kevin Curran, agent-in-charge of the Des Moines FBI field office, declined to comment on any actions that were being taken by the FBI in Ames or surrounding areas.