'Amused' Cat Stevens back home

[MIKE BURN]

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CNN/Thursday, September 23, 2004 Posted: 7:45 AM EDT (1145 GMT)



LONDON, England (CNN) -- The British recording artist Yusuf Islam returned to London Thursday saying he was "shocked and slightly amused" after U.S. officials determined he was on a terrorist watch list and was not allowed to enter the United States.



Islam, the peace activist and singer once known as Cat Stevens, said he was traveling to Nashville, Tennessee, with his daughter for a recording session when he was approached aboard the flight into Washington, D.C.



"Suddenly we were forced to land and suddenly I was being interrogated by all these FBI officers," Islam said at an impromptu press conference at London's Heathrow Airport.



"The whole thing is totally ridiculous. Everybody knows who I am, you know, I'm no secret figure. Everybody knows my campaigning for charity, for peace. And there's got to be a whole lot of explanations. Hopefully there will be that."



When asked if he was being victimized, he said "absolutely," then added, "but you know people make mistakes."



"I just hope they've made a big mistake."



Islam was taken off a United Air Lines flight from London to Washington on Tuesday and officially denied entry to the United States when U.S. authorities ordered the aircraft to land in Bangor, Maine.



He was taken to Boston and Washington before being sent back to London on another United flight from Dulles International Airport.



U.S. Muslim leaders say they want the government to explain why he was on a "watch list" meant to keep terrorists out of the country.



Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge accused Islam of having some unspecified relationship with terrorist activity.



"Celebrity or unknown, our job is to act on information that others have given us," Ridge said.



"And in this instance, there was some relationship between the name and the terrorists' activity with this individual's name being on that no-fly list, and appropriate action was taken."



Other officials said he was on the watch list because of reported associations and financial support for Muslim charities with terrorist connections. But they would not disclose the names of those charities, and Homeland Security spokesman Garrison Courtney told CNN only that "the intelligence community has come into possession of additional information that further heightens our concerns of Yusuf Islam."



The 56-year-old Islam changed his name after becoming a Muslim in the 1970s. Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his organization wanted a better explanation for why the singer was denied entry into the country.



"We are getting a little tired of this kind of Kafkaesque treatment of people, where vague allegations are made and actions are taken against individuals and organizations," Hooper said.



He said American Muslim leaders "need to know where the allegations are coming from."



"I don't think we want to be in a situation where people are denounced by anonymous government officials and labeled as terrorists and that's it -- everybody says 'Okay, we don't need any more information.' We need more information," he said.



Ridge said the intelligence that put the singer's name on the list came from outside the United States, but he would not reveal the source.



He questioned why United allowed him onto the flight at all, but government sources said Islam's name was added to the watch list only recently and had been misspelled -- which could explain why airline employees overlooked it.



Aviation security adviser Jalal Haidar, an Arab-American Muslim, said Islam's inclusion on the watch list may have been a mistake -- but he said the watch list system will improve.



"Mistakes happen. There are lots of redundant names, and identity can be mistaken," he said.



"The system is not perfect here." Ridge called the singer "one of my favorite artists," and said his agency would take "a very, very close look" at the information that resulted in Islam being placed on the list.



But another U.S. official said the Department of Homeland Security is "extremely confident in the information," and said it was credible "without a doubt."



According to Islam's Web site, he is associated with three charities: Small Kindness for humanitarian relief; Islamia Schools' Trust for education; and Waqf al Birr Educational Trust for educational research and development and scientific and medical research.



As Cat Stevens, Islam had a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s such as "Moon Shadow," "Peace Train," "Wild World" and "Morning Has Broken" before converting to Islam in the 1970s and changing his name.



He dropped out of the music business for more than a decade after converting to Islam, but returned to the studio periodically since the late 1990s. He condemned the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington, performing at a benefit concert to raise money for victims and donating a portion of the royalties from a career retrospective to a relief fund.



He also condemned the recent attack on a school in the southern Russian town of Beslan that killed more than 300 people, many of them children.



He was widely reported to have endorsed the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeni's 1989 decree calling for the death of British novelist Salman Rushdie after Khomeni said Rushdie's novel, "The Satanic Verses," was blasphemous.



But Islam has said his comments were taken out of context by a reporter, and that he opposed anyone "taking the law into their own hands."

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[DreamTone7]

Yeah, saw that a few days ago. I wouldn't consider him a threat, but what do we really know?

[Seismic Anamoly]

BBC News...

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In the late 1980s he shocked many of his former fans by supporting the fatwa ordered by the Ayatollah Khomeini against Salman Rushdie, which led to the author being put under a death sentence by the Iranian government.



And in 2000 he was deported from Israel due to his backing of the militant Islamic group Hamas.

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Good enough for me.

[MIKE BURN]

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BBC/London, Friday, 24 September, 2004, 13:25 GMT 14:25 UK



Cat Stevens to take legal action



Yusuf Islam, the British singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, is taking legal action after he was refused entry into the US.

Mr Islam said the decision to deny him entry on grounds of national security was "very serious and wholly unfounded" and he wants an explanation.



His Washington-bound flight was diverted to Maine on Tuesday and he was told to leave the country by the FBI.



He said a legal process had been put in place to find out what had happened.



In a statement Mr Islam, who grew up living above his parents' restaurant in London's West End, said: "Never would I believe that such a thing could happen in the 'land of the free' - unfortunately, it did.



"I was not given (and have still not been given) any explanation as to what it is I am accused of, or why I am now deemed an apparent security threat.



"I was simply told that the order had come from 'on high'.



"We have now initiated a legal process to try to find out exactly what is going on, and to take all necessary steps to undo the very serious, and wholly unfounded, injustice which I have suffered.



"I am a man of peace and denounce all forms of terrorism and injustice; it is simply outrageous for the US authorities to suggest otherwise."



Action was taken against the musician, who converted to Islam and changed his name to Yusuf Islam in the 1970s, after US officials realised he was on a security "watch list".



As a singer Cat Stevens had a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, including Moon Shadow, Wild World and Morning Has Broken.



He became interested in rock music in his teens while attending Hammersmith College in London and began performing in 1965 under the name Steve Adams.



He abandoned his music career in the late 1970s.



In 1983 he founded a Muslim school in London and is now an active member of the British Islamic community.

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[Seismic Anamoly]

[MIKE BURN]

It would be consequential to expel all muslims, American or not, from the U.S. Reading Seismo's arguments above I have

to say that I do not know a single muslim who was 'ok' with

Mr. Rushdie's 'Satanic Verses'. It's just because religious

people do not like having their prophets called "Satan", isn't

this also true for Christians or Sikhs?



But wait.... the method and 'mood' of the U.S. 'action'

sounds like Germany 1933 to me



A good time to repeat two quotes of very evil

men, which fit somewhat in this context IMHO:

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"Of course the people don't want war. But after all,

it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and

it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether

it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a

communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can

always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy.



All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and

denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing

the country to greater danger."



-Hermann Göring



----------------------------------------------------------



"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State

can shield the people from the political, economic and/or

military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally

important for the State to use all of its powers to repress

dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus

by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."



-Joseph Goebbels

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[Seismic Anamoly]

They fit like a Glove, don't they?



Amazing how what goes around, comes around.

[DreamTone7]

"Satanic Verses" refer to certain passages that are found in the Qu'ran. Mr. Rushdie did not invent them, or the term. Read this to understand a little better:



www.answering-islam.org/H...verses.htm



From my point of view, these verses call into question the validity of the Qu'ran as the word of God, and Muhammad as a prophet. So I can understand why Muslims, including Cat Stevens, would be angry with Rushdie for bringing up this volatile issue. But it is my understanding that the reason for Stevens being on the list of "suspects" in the US has more to do with him funneling monies to Hamas. In my mind, that is worthy of keeping him out of here.



BTW, even the Qu'ran acknowledges the Bible as the word of God, and Jesus as the son of God.





Nice but faulty attempt at extrapolation, Mike. You troublemaker, you.

[LarreeMP3]

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BBC News...





Quote:

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In the late 1980s he shocked many of his former fans by supporting the fatwa ordered by the Ayatollah Khomeini against Salman Rushdie, which led to the author being put under a death sentence by the Iranian government.



And in 2000 he was deported from Israel due to his backing of the militant Islamic group Hamas.



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Good enough for me.

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Good enough for me, too. "Peace Train" my ass. Keep him the fork off our soil. He is a forking terrorist supporter. He's lucky we didn't lock his ass up!

Click here to listen to three decades of original Larree music!

[MIKE BURN]

Cat Stevens' most recent statement:

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First, I thank God for relieving me of my ordeal and delivering me home safe; also, thanks to all those who prayed for me and supported me through this whole dark episode, from eminent politicians, the press and religious leaders, to plain, everyday people. Never would I believe that such a thing could happen in the 'land of the free' - unfortunately, it did. But it's warming to have such a wave of sympathy from my friends and my worldwide well-wishers.



After the experience of my dramatic deportation from the U.S.A. it feels like I am on a different planet from the one I was on a couple of days ago; certainly the world has changed, not for the best. Two days beforehand, I had started a journey with my daughter to Nashville, intending to initiate work on a new recording project. Suddenly, our aeroplane was diverted 600 miles to Bangor International Airport and I found myself surrounded by six uniformed officers and handed over to the FBI for questioning.



The most upsetting thing at this point was being separated from my daughter, Maymanah, not knowing how she was or when and where we might be united. And since my phone was confiscated I couldn't contact my family (nor could they ring me) and they were relegated to watching the whole frightening episode on TV and surviving on scraps of information shown by the media.



My interrogators repeatedly wanted to know how my name was spelt; it sounded to me as though they had it mixed up with someone else's. Security officers finally told me that my name was on a 'No Fly List', I was classified as 'Inadmissible', and sent back to London.



The amazing thing is that I was not given (and have still not been given) any explanation whatsoever as to what it is I am accused of, or why I am now deemed an apparent security threat - let alone given an opportunity to respond to these allegations. I was simply told that the order had come from 'on high'.



We have now initiated a legal process to try to find out exactly what is going on, and to take all necessary steps to undo the very serious, and wholly unfounded, injustice which I have suffered.



I am a man of peace and denounce all forms of terrorism and injustice; it is simply outrageous for the U.S. authorities to suggest otherwise. I have dedicated my life to promoting peace and understanding throughout the world. It would be devastating were the charity work I do through my humanitarian relief organisation, Small Kindness, which helps countless children and families, and which is accredited by the United Nations, to be undermined by what has happened.



What makes the situation even more distressing is the fact that I have now been prevented from entering the United States - a part of God's earth that I love and whose people have always been great friends to me.



Yet, after all this, I can think of no better response than by continuing what I believe to be the tremendously important work of caring for the needy and campaigning for peace and stability in this volatile and increasingly violent world, and at the same time try to seek to clear my name of this appalling and baseless slur. In the meantime I am confident that, in the end, good sense and, above all, justice, will prevail.

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[Rev9Volts]

actually cat stevens was planning a usa tour performing nothing but john denver songs is why he was booted out....

[Galmin]

Well, Time magazine says he was stopped because the Dept of Homeland Security cannot spell.

[DreamTone7]

Time magazine cannot spell.

[Galmin]

It might be thus.



Still, 'Morning Has Broken...'

[Rev9Volts]

great song to learn finger picking on a martin!!!