In Elkader, Iowa

ELKADER, IOWA -- Nestled among the blue herons in the Turkey River Valley in northeastern Iowa, this hamlet couldn't be farther from the deserts of Islamic Algeria. Snow flurries darken the last days of autumn; the maple trees have lost their leaves. American flags adorn a vibrant main street.

But with 1,500 souls, Elkader's tidy burg of Victorian houses and brick churches holds the distinction of being the only town in the United States named after an Islamic revolutionary. And it takes seriously its role as a model town for world diplomacy.

"Abd-el-Kader was the George Washington of Algeria," Betty Walch tells visitors at the Carter House Museum. Walch stood recently in front of a display case of El-Kader memorabilia and portraits. An Algerian wool rug, sheared from a shipment of Iowa sheep sent to Algeria by a cadre of Girl Scouts, hangs on the wall.

"I was walking by here the other day and saw this, and who does it look like?" Walch said during a tour, picking up a black and white portrait. "Osama bin Laden," she answered, "and I thought, 'Oh my God, what are we doing with this picture here?' But that is Abd-el-Kader."

The legendary hero of Algeria's resistance against France, Abd-el-Kader led a jihad against the Western power in the 1830s. He managed to unite the various Arab and Berber clans in a devastating war until 1847. Several months before El-Kader's surrender to Louis Napoleon's France, the Iowa town founders chose the world newspaper darling of the moment as their municipality's namesake.

"I don't think we'll brag about it now," Walch said, in light of the Sept. 11 tragedy, "but that was a long time ago."

One visitor recently complained about the Algerian display, saying it was inappropriate. Ed Olson, the former town mayor, disagreed.

"Small town folks are more worldly than we often think," Olson said, pointing at another collection of Algerian souvenirs at the local Opera House. He headed up the town's Sister City project with Mascara, Algeria in 1984, leading nine other council members on their first visit to the North African country.

"As part of the Sister City's philosophy," Olson said, "we should cross borders in friendship, not war."

On their visit, the Americans heard about Algeria's own struggle with fundamentalist extremists. They dined on Algerian cuisine and visited the nation's landmarks. In a moving ceremony outside Mascara, they planted trees at a monument to El-Kader. For the rural Iowans, most from northern European immigrant backgrounds, it was an "unforgettable experience."

"Just as we had preconceived notions of their society, and Islam," Olson said, "they had built their image of America around the movies. They thought our country was full of mobsters."

When a Mascara delegation arrived in Elkader the next year, the town hosted a parade, led by the high school marching band, which played the Algerian national anthem.

"It blew their minds," Olson said. "It was a very emotional exchange, because all of the barriers came down on that trip. We became friends, and it was a tearful day when they left. Following that we had a youth exchange."

Elkader has since hosted four Algerian ambassadors. A "World Food Day" in 1990 featured El-Kader's great-great-grandson, Idriss Jazairy, the current Algerian ambassador in Washington, D.C. In 1996, over 400 Algerian-Americans converged on the town for the "Sweet Corn Parade." The town also enjoys a relationship with Muslims in nearby Cedar Rapids, Iowa, home of the longest-standing mosque in the country.

"There are people against exchanges anywhere you go," Olson said, "because they don't take the time to understand. Our community has taken that time. We fear and condemn terrorists as much as anybody, but we also try to understand the innocent people on the other side."