US Muslim leaders Thursday condemned a federal search at the Texas offices of a Middle East Internet service provider, calling it part of an "anti-Muslim witch hunt."

Anti-terrorism agents from the US Federal Bureau of Investigations were part of the joint operation Wednesday that descended on the offices of InfoCom Corporation, a Texas-based Internet service provider that hosts a web portal servicing the Middle East and many Muslim American organizations.

"While Muslims understand the FBI's mission to protect American citizens, we are concerned that the civil liberties of Infocom's owners and their many important clients were violated by this unexpected raid. Such an assault leaves the Muslim community and the public at large with many unanswered questions and a lingering sense of violation. We expect the FBI to provide a prompt and full disclosure of the circumstances that led to this raid, the basis of their suspicions and the evidence for which they were searching," a coalition of nearly a dozen Muslim groups said in a statement.

The search disrupted satellite television service in the United Arab Emirates, according to reports from Dubai, and several web sites for major Muslim American organizations were shut down.

"American Muslims view yesterday's action as just one of a long list of attempts by the pro-Israel lobby to intimidate and silence all those who wish to see Palestinian Muslims and Christians free themselves of a brutal apartheid-like occupation," said the coalition of Muslims.

"We believe the genesis of this raid lies not in Washington, but in Tel Aviv."

Among the groups voicing their discontent were the American Muslim Council, American Muslims for Jerusalem, American Muslim Alliance, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamic Society of North America, Islamic Circle of North America, Islamic Association for Palestine, Muslim Alliance in North America, Muslim Public Affairs Council, and Muslim Student Association of US and Canada.

One of InfoCom's clients was the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite television network, the coalition said, a popular Arabic news outlet frequently criticized by Israel for its reporting on the situation in the Palestinian territories.

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AFP contributed to this report.