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A Muslim leader is trying to improve public perceptions about members of Arizona’s Islamic community in the wake of the Boston bombing. The faith leader also said local Muslims need to do more to report radical Islamists.

M. Zuhdi Jasser is president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy in Phoenix.

He said Arizona’s Islamic community is angered and saddened by the Boston bombings that, in his words, were planned by apparent radical jihadists. 

Jasser is inviting officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to monitor religious ceremonies at Arizona mosques to ensure authorities that most Muslims are peaceful people who love and respect this country. 

“We should be transparent as Muslims. I hope that we are not giving up any of our civil liberties, but at the end of the day mosques are open to the public so we have nothing to hide," Jasser said.

But Jasser said the federal government alone can’t prevent any more terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. He has encouraged Muslims to identify and report individuals or Islamic splinter groups that want to harm Americans.