WASHINGTON – A coalition of major Muslim-American groups yesterday gave a tepid endorsement to Senator Kerry for president, explaining that their overriding desire to defeat President Bush trumped their misgivings about the senator’s policy positions and his “distant” attitude to their community.

The American Muslim Task Force Political Action Committee said their endorsement was a “protest vote” against the “oppressive order of the Bush administration,” which they described as “extremely insensitive” to the their civil liberties and human rights.

The group also criticized Mr. Kerry’s votes in support of the Iraq war and for the Patriot Act, which he has since said he would alter but not repeal. “So far the Kerry campaign has failed to affirm its support for due process, equal justice, and other constitutional norms,” the task force said in a statement.

“We have many disagreements with John Kerry,” said the national chair man of the American Muslim Alliance, Agha Saeed, who spoke on behalf of the coalition at a press conference. He called the senator “not the most ideal choice for us.”

Many Muslim-Americans are most comfortable with the policy positions of independent candidate Ralph Nader, who opposed the war in Iraq and has been harshly critical of American policy in the Middle East, Mr. Saeed said.

But the group said its desire to end “the era of John Ashcroft” was more pressing.

“Today in the community there is a feeling that a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush,” said the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Nihad Awad, who said he spoke in a personal capacity.

Mr. Kerry’s relationship with Muslim-Americans was described as “distant.” The senator is “treading very carefully” in “an environment of Islamophobia,” Mr. Saeed said.

“There is a sense that John Kerry doesn’t want to be seen in public with us and we have a sense that we don’t want to hurt him by forcing him to come forward.”

But Mr. Awad condemned Mr. Kerry for showing “moral weakness” by not engaging more closely with the Muslim community, which he said has been stereotyped and “scapegoated.”

The Kerry campaign did not comment on the endorsement yesterday.

Members of the task force praised Senator Kennedy of Massachusetts, a co-chair of Mr. Kerry’s campaign, for reaching out to them.

Their meetings with Kerry campaign officials have focused almost exclusively on issues of constitutional rights, and they were given promises of “equal justice, no secret evidence, and no secret trials,” Mr. Saeed said.

On foreign policy, “what was promised was hopefully a balanced approach to the Middle East,” he said, but described the talks as “a rudimentary discussion” that did not develop “to a satisfactory level.”

Mr. Saeed noted with approval that in the second presidential debate, Mr. Kerry said he wanted to “reach out to the Muslim world.”

The Census Bureau has estimated that there were between 1.1 million and 2.2 million American Muslims in 2001, of which one-third are estimated to be African-Americans. Muslim groups estimate their own numbers to be as high as 7 million.

Muslims are a potential swing-voting bloc in several battleground states, including Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Muslim-Americans voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Bush in 2000, but opinion surveys predict a dramatic Uturn in their support.

A recent Zogby poll of 1,700 Muslim voters nationwide estimated that Mr. Kerry leads Mr. Bush, 68% to 7%, with Mr. Nader at 11%.

Mr. Saeed said Muslim groups have mounted a large voter-education and mobilization effort. Some Muslims plan to vote by absentee ballot, in part out of fear of harassment at the polls, he said.

A spokesman for Mr. Nader, Kevin Zeese, said the independent candidate felt “empathy and disappointment” about the endorsement.

“It’s a symptom of the illness of a two party system. People are forced to vote for people they don’t believe in in order to have an impact,” he said.