Umar Abdul-Jalil, director of the city jails' ministerial services unit and the well-known imam of a Harlem mosque, is prohibited from having contact with inmates pending a review of his comments, Department of Correction spokesman Tom Antenen said.

In an April speech to a group of Islamic leaders in Tucson, Abdul-Jalil allegedly said that Jews controlled the media and that Muslims were being tortured in Manhattan jails, according to excerpts published by the New York Post. The speech was taped by the Investigative Project, a counter-terrorism organization.

At one point, Abdul-Jalil urged American Muslims to stop allowing "the Zionists of the media to dictate what Islam is to us," according to the newspaper.

Abdul-Jalil could not be reached for comment Friday, but told reporters earlier in the week that his statements had been taken out of context.

On Friday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said he would examine the speech and meet with other city officials to determine whether Abdul-Jalil had violated any department policies or city rules. "We've got to look at what he said on the job, and how what he says away from the job impacts that, and what his rights are," Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show.

Abdul-Jalil's alleged remarks came as a surprise to officials with the Department of Correction, where the imam is well-liked, one jail official said. Abdul-Jalil has worked as a chaplain in the city jails since 1993. In April 2004, he was promoted to run the department's ministerial services unit, overseeing 40 chaplains of various faiths who work in the 14,000-inmate system.

The investigation into his speech comes a year after the city fire department forced its Muslim chaplain to resign after he publicly expressed doubt that Al Qaeda hijackers had brought down the World Trade Center.