HOUSTON: Three Muslim-owned gas stations in San Antonio have been set on fire by one or more arsonists in the past three weeks, raising the spectre of hate crimes in a city that prides itself on diversity.

"No one has taken responsibility and it's difficult to say what the motive is, but there are too many similarities between the fires for it to be a coincidence," said Capt Art Villarreal, head of the arson unit at the San Antonio police department. "It flies in the face of logic to say these are random attacks."

For the 12,000 Muslims who live in San Antonio, the fires are a reminder that fallout from the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks continues. "The police aren't saying 'hate crime' yet, but we as a community are thinking it is, because of what we've been going through, of being singled out," said Sarwat Husain, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in San Antonio. "Our community needs to send a clear message to the perpetrators that bigotry and hatred will not be tolerated."

The first fire was set on March 24 at a Texaco station on San Antonio's northwest side. Five days later, a nearby combination convenience store and gas station was torched. On Monday, a third station, in the south part of the city, went up in flames. No injuries were reported in the fires.

All of the fires were set about 3am. In each case, an accelerant was poured on an outside wall and ignited, causing between $50,000 and $100,000 worth of damage, Villarreal said. In at least two of the cases, investigators found red plastic gasoline containers among the charred rubble.

No anti-Muslim graffiti or notes were left behind, Villarreal said. "It would be difficult to say the perpetrator knew who the owner was in all instances," he said. "I think he would see the people working behind the counter were from the Middle East and that may have spurred the individual."

The gas stations, each affiliated with a different corporate brand, were owned and operated by husband-and-wife teams striving to live the American dream, Husain said. "They all worked so hard for their businesses, and now it's gone. ... There is shock and anger and fear when you go through something like this. The Muslims here are all Americans. Americans hurting Americans, this should not be allowed in this country that tells the world it is the most civilized," she said.

In San Antonio, where 62 per cent of the population is Hispanic, diversity is typically celebrated, Husain said. "We're taking it so seriously because this is the first time something like this has happened here and we want to stop it before it spreads," she said. -Dawn/The LAT-WP News Service (c) The Los Angeles Times.