Cat Stevens wins peace prize

[MIKE BURN]

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Cat Stevens wins peace prize



Wednesday, November 10, 2004 Posted: 7:03 PM EST (0003 GMT)



ROME, Italy (AP) -- The singer once known as Cat Stevens -- branded by the United States as a potential terrorist risk -- has been awarded a peace prize in Rome for his humanitarian work.



Mikhail Gorbachev presented Yusuf Islam with the "Man for Peace" award at the opening of a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates.







The former Soviet leader kissed the singer on the cheeks and praised him for standing by his convictions despite personal hardships.



The singer last made headlines in September, when he turned up on Washington's no-fly list for having suspected ties to terrorists, a claim he has called ludicrous.



The "Peace Train" singer, who largely gave up music after converting to Islam in the late 1970s, mused about the strangeness of being barred from one country while being honored in another.



"Perhaps it's part of the irony that sometimes you have to go through a test in order to achieve a prize," he told reporters.



"So maybe that's a symbol. Today I'm receiving a prize for peace, which is actually, I would say, a bit more descriptive of my ideas and my aims in life."



The British musician was expelled from the United States in September after authorities diverted his London-to-Washington flight to Maine to remove him, saying he was suspected of ties to terrorism.



Islam said he was a victim of an "unjust and arbitrary system," and that he has denounced terrorism.



He also pointed out that just a few months earlier, he had met with officials of the White House's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to talk about philanthropy.



Gorbachev's foundation and Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni's office, which presented the award, praised Islam for promoting peace and "for having condemned terrorism."



The former Soviet leader alluded to the musician's troubles. "Cat Stevens' life has not been simple," Gorbachev said.



"Every person who takes a critical stance to make the world a better place ... has a difficult life."



The musician is the founder of Small Kindness, a charity to raise money for children and families suffering from poverty and war in the Balkans and Middle East.

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MIKE


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