Fomer singer Cat Stevens denied U.S. entry

Professur

Professur

Well-Known Member
WASHINGTON (AP) - A London-to-Washington flight was diverted to Maine on Tuesday when it was discovered passenger Yusuf Islam - formerly known as singer Cat Stevens - was on a U.S. government watch list and barred from entering the country, two officials said.

United Airlines Flight 919 was en route to Dulles International Airport when the match was made between a passenger and a name on the watch list, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. The plane was met by federal agents at Maine's Bangor International Airport around 3 p.m. EDT, Melendez said.

The two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, identified the passenger as Islam. They said Islam was denied entry on national security grounds but had no details about why the peace activist might be considered a risk to the United States.

One official said Islam, 56, was identified by the Advanced Passenger Information System, which requires airlines to send passenger information to Customs and Border Protection's National Targeting Center. The Transportation Security Administration then was contacted and requested the plane land at the nearest airport, that official said.

The second official, who is in law enforcement and spoke anonymously because of agency policy, said Islam was questioned by FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. After the interview, Customs officials decided to deny Islam entry into the United States.

He was expected to be returned early Wednesday to London, the official said.

Islam, who was born Stephen Georgiou, took Cat Stevens as a stage name and had a string of hits in the 1960s and '70s, including Wild World and Morning Has Broken. Last year, he released two songs, including a re-recording of his '70s hit Peace Train, to express his opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

He abandoned his music career in the late 1970s and changed his name after being persuaded by orthodox Muslim teachers that his lifestyle was forbidden by Islamic law. He later became a teacher and an advocate for his religion, founding a Muslim school in London in 1983.

He has criticized terrorist acts by Muslims, including the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the school seizure in Beslan, Russia, earlier this month that left more than 300 dead, nearly one-half of them children.

In a statement on his website, he wrote: "Crimes against innocent bystanders taken hostage in any circumstance have no foundation whatsoever in the life of Islam and the model example of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him."

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Islam issued a statement saying: "No right thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action: the Qur'an equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity."
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Don't let the door hit your ass on your way out.
 
lemme get this straight...even though he spoke out against terrorist acts he can't enter the country because he is a muslim cleric? i'm not so sure i like this line of reasoning.
 
The only thing I can assume is that there was more said in this interview than they are releasing. That, or our country is really starting to go to shit.

*Sings

Morning has broken like the first morning,
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing, Praise for the morning,
Praise for them springing fresh from the world.
 
tonksy said:
lemme get this straight...even though he spoke out against terrorist acts he can't enter the country because he is a muslim cleric? i'm not so sure i like this line of reasoning.
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No, Tonks. He can't enter the country because he's been labelled a shit disturber, and trouble maker.
 
Professur said:
No, Tonks. He can't enter the country because he's been labelled a shit disturber, and trouble maker.
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kinda like a hippy version of jesse jackson? how come he gets to stay?
 
Professur said:
No, Tonks. He can't enter the country because he's been labelled a shit disturber, and trouble maker.
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Shit disturber and trouble maker seems to fit more for GW as for someone who is pointing out the peaceful side of a religion.
 
ElementOfChaos said:
Shit disturber and trouble maker seems to fit more for GW as for someone who is pointing out the peaceful side of a religion.
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exactly. i think this has gone too far. this country was (apparently) based on the freedom of religion. so...if people are peaceful and law abiding, they should be allowed to enter the country. i understand that cat gave up his citizenship but i hardly think a visit is detrimental to anyone.
 
ElementOfChaos said:
Shit disturber and trouble maker seems to fit more for GW as for someone who is pointing out the peaceful side of a religion.
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He wasn't talking much about peace when he agreed with Khomeini that Salman Rushdie should be murdered.
 
tonksy said:
lemme get this straight...even though he spoke out against terrorist acts he can't enter the country because he is a muslim cleric? i'm not so sure i like this line of reasoning.
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He gave money to a number of organizations that support terrorism.
 
According to the Israelis. I can't seem to find any root evidence to back that up, although my resources are obviously limited.

If that's true, he needs to be blocked. I'd like to see some facts on it, though.
 
He's on several "watch lists" & on the TSA's Do Not Fly list. They missed him in England, somehow, which is why the plane was diverted. He's been denied entry & will be (has been?) returned.

Hama's, according to the Israeli's in 2000. He denied it. In this case, I'd trust Israel...they have no reason to lie & they have kick-ass intelligence on this kind of stuff.
 
but if you want to leave take good care,
hope you make a lot of nice friends out there,
but just remember there's a lot of bad and beware,
beware,

Oh baby baby it's a wild world,
it's hard to get by just upon a smile
 
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