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Continuing a campaign to improve the image of the U.S. among followers of the world's second-largest religion, the State Department is helping to launch a nonprofit group that will highlight successful Muslim Americans.

Undersecretary of State Charlotte Beers announced in mid-May the formation of the Council of American Muslims for Understanding, saying the nongovernmental group and others like it will become "indispensable" in creating a positive dialogue between the U.S. and Islamic countries. Beers did not describe the funding relationship between the State Department and the new group.

In an interview, Malik Hasan, the council's chairman, said State Department officials have indicated that his group likely will receive government grants to spread its message of goodwill and religious tolerance overseas. "It will be government-funded, but it's not government-founded," said Hasan, a retired medical executive and major contributor to Republican political candidates.

He nonetheless acknowledged that he was approached by the State Department to help start the group. "There's a perception in the `umma,' or Muslim world, that America doesn't care about Muslims," Hasan said. The government's support of his group, combined with other Bush administration efforts, "declares in large, bold letters that we do care about them."

Hasan said the group has a twofold mission: to present a positive portrayal to Muslims abroad of Islamic life in America, and to explain to Americans "what Muslim values are." Specific plans and programs have not been determined, but there is talk of sending board members to Muslim countries and having conferences in the U.S. with Muslims from around the world.

Some government watchdogs and religion observers said they see the group as part of a larger, and arguably inappropriate, effort by the government to make the U.S. appear friendly to a particular religion, Islam. One State Department project, "Muslim Life in America," has its own Web site (http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/muslimlife). Some of its links are to Islamic organizations critical of U.S. policy, particularly in the Middle East.

The multiple programs illustrate a shift in strategy since September 11. The State Department appears to be venturing beyond developing relationships with Muslim countries to fostering improved dealings with this diverse and nonhierarchical religion. Officials declined requests for on-the-record interviews on the department's role in the nonprofit group and the Muslim Life in America project.

But on April 24, Beers told a House appropriations subcommittee that a major initiative would target Muslims. "It is imperative that we reach out, inform, educate and persuade these populations that we are a society and a country that is based on certain shared values, values that resonate with the Muslim world, such as peace, acceptance, tolerance and love of family," said Beers, who headed two major advertising firms before being named the State Department's chief message strategist.

In asking the subcommittee for a 5 percent increase in the public diplomacy budget to more than $595 million, Beers said a February Gallup poll showed that by a 2-to-1 ratio, people in nine Islamic countries have an unfavorable opinion of the U.S.

The general idea of reaching out to Muslims has been well received. "We're just trying to address this worry of some 1.2 billion Muslims that the United States is at war with their religion," said Shirin R. Tahir-Kheli, who is aware of the effort but not associated with it. She is director of the South Asia Program of the Foreign Policy Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Nonetheless, critics cite potentially delicate issues. "This skates on very thin constitutional ice," said Barry Lynn, executive director of the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "It is effectively the beginning of a list for worldwide consumption of which religions contribute to American life. At a minimum, it suggests the government is not sure about some religions."

The step was called dangerous by Nina Shea, who heads the Center for Religious Freedom in Washington. "It appears as if they're anointing certain Muslim leaders, giving them the Good Housekeeping seal of approval."

The public relations campaign runs counter to U.S. positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in the eyes of some. "If the United States wants to improve its image, it has to change its policy rather than present Muslim people to promote its policy," said Omar Ahmad, chairman of the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which has strongly criticized U.S. support of Israel.