WASHINGTON - Many Muslim Americans who have supported Barack Obama's candidacy for president of the United States say he has not returned the embrace. Muslim leaders say they understood that their support for Obama, an African-American, could be a problem at a time when some Americans are deeply suspicious of Muslims. Yet those leaders expressed disappointment at the distance Obama had kept from them. Obama has visited churches and synagogues, but he has yet to appear at a mosque, and many Muslim Americans who embraced his candidacy feel slighted. US Congressman Keith Ellison, a Democrat,  until recently the only Muslim serving in Congress, told The New York Times that like many other Americans of Islamic faith he enthusiastically welcomed Obama's entry into the presidential race. But now, he said, requests to appear with the likely nominee aren't being answered. After one such request for a joint appearance at a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, mosque, Ellison recalled an Obama aide turning down the appearance by saying, 'We have a very tightly wrapped message.' Obama campaign aides, however, deny there's been a snub. "Our campaign has made every attempt to bring together Americans of all races, religions and backgrounds to take on our common challenges," Ben LaBolt, a campaign spokesman, told the newspaper. But support for Sen. Obama during the primaries doesn't mean the Democrat has a free pass from the Muslim American community. Last week's incident at an Obama rally in Michigan put some added strain on Obama's support in the Muslim American community. A campaign volunteer reportedly barred two Muslim American women from appearing in camera-range behind Obama's podium after they refused the campaign representative's request to remove their headscarves. After the incident received media attention, Obama called the women personally to apologize. But the hurt still lingers for some Muslim Americans. The Muslim community also felt greatly disappointed over his speech to a gathering organized by a powerful Jewish lobbying group in which he back Israel to the hilt, ignoring the rights of the Palestinians.