Flight Is Diverted to Detain Former Pop Singer By MATTHEW L. WALD September 22, 2004 WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 - The Department of Homeland Security ordered a United Airlines jet flying from London to Washington rerouted to Bangor, Me., on Tuesday afternoon so it could intercept a passenger, Yusuf Islam, the musician formerly known as Cat Stevens, two government officials said. Mr. Islam was "denied entry into the United States," said an official, and was in the custody of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. The plan on Tuesday evening was to deport Mr. Islam, who is a British subject, the officials said. The officials, both of whom said they could not be named because this was a security issue, said Mr. Islam was a financial supporter of groups believed to be linked to terrorism. Mr. Islam's Web site lists him as a supporter of many charities. Since converting to Islam in 1977 and renouncing his former identity as a pop singer who sold 25 million albums, Mr. Islam has been quoted making contradictory statements about various issues in the Muslim world. At one point he appeared to support the death sentence pronounced by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Iranian leader, in 1989, against the author Salman Rushdie for his novel "The Satanic Verses." Though he said at another point that he did not support the ayatollah's edict, his anti-Rushdie comment drew wide criticism. After the interception of Mr. Islam on Tuesday, one of the government officials said, "He is not on a watch list for making verbal threats." Mr. Islam was deported from Israel in July 2000 because he was believed to be a supporter of Hamas, the terrorist group. On Tuesday Mr. Islam was on a Boeing 747-400 with 249 passengers aboard. After it was diverted, the plane was kept on the ground for more than three hours. Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company --------------------------------------------------- Ex-Pop Star Cat Stevens to Be Deported from U.S. By Sue Pleming Sep 22, 11:52 am ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ex-pop singer Cat Stevens, a Muslim, will be deported to Britain after being denied entry to the United States because his activities could be "linked to terrorism," a U.S. official said on Wednesday. Arab-Americans and Muslims in Britain promptly voiced outrage over the treatment of Stevens, who is known as Yusuf Islam since he became a Muslim almost three decades ago. Homeland Security spokesman Brian Doyle said Islam would be put on the first available flight back to Britain after his Washington D.C.-bound plane was diverted on Tuesday to Maine for security reasons. "Why is he on the watch lists? Because of his activities that could be potentially linked to terrorism. The intelligence community has come into possession of additional information that further raises our concern (about Islam)," Doyle said. A law enforcement official who asked not to be identified said the United States had information Islam had donated money to the militant Islamic group Hamas. Islam was denied entry to Israel in 2000 after the authorities there accused him of supporting Hamas. The former pop star strongly denied the charges and said his charitable donations were for humanitarian causes. Islam was traveling with his daughter on a United Airlines flight on Tuesday from London to Washington when it was diverted to Bangor, Maine. A Homeland Security official said United Airlines employee missed Islam's name on the "watch lists" in Britain and that the plane was in flight when officials found a match from the advanced passenger information sent by the airline. United Airlines spokesman Jeff Green said the carrier was asked by the Transportation Security Administration to divert the plane to Maine for security reasons. A leading Arab-American group planned a news conference later to protest the move. "When internationally respected Islamic personalities like Yusuf Islam and Professor Tariq Ramadan are denied entry to the United States, it sends the disturbing message that even moderate and mainstream Muslims will now be treated like terrorists," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR. Homeland security officials recently revoked the visa of Ramadan, a Swiss-based Islamic scholar who was due to begin teaching at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. No explanation for the abrupt move was given. In Britain, Muslim groups also decried the deportation of Islam, who heads a trust that oversees Muslim schools in the country. He has met with Prime Minister Tony Blair, Home Secretary David Blunkett and heir to the British throne Prince Charles. "This incident comes only to confirm the farcical and ultimately draconian standards and practices exercised by U.S. immigration authorities," said Anas Altikriti, a spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain. CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper pointed out that Islam had visited the United States in May and was not stopped then. "The best case scenario is that it's a bureaucratic foul-up and his name was mixed up with someone else on the list. But what has happened sends a terrible message to the rest of the Muslim world," said Hooper. Cat Stevens had a string of hits in the early 1970s including "Peace Train," "Moonshadow," "Morning has Broken" and "Wild World" before converting to Islam in 1977. (Additional reporting by Deborah Charles) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Passenger Cat Stevens to Be Deported By LESLIE MILLER Sep 22, 12:06 PM (ET) WASHINGTON (AP) - Homeland Security officials said Yusuf Islam - formerly known as singer Cat Stevens - will be deported Wednesday after being denied entry to the U.S. for being on a government watch list. The former singer was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 919, en route to Dulles International Airport from London when the match was made Tuesday between a passenger and a name on the watch list, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration. The plane diverted to Maine and met by federal agents at Bangor International Airport around 3 p.m. EDT, Melendez said. Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy identified the passenger as Islam. "He was interviewed and denied admission to the United States on national security grounds," Murphy said. Officials had no details about why the peace activist might be considered a risk to the United States. Islam had visited New York in May for a charity event and to promote a DVD of his 1976 MajiKat tour. One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, 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 that the plane land at the nearest airport, that official said. Melendez said Islam was questioned by FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Another federal official, who is in law enforcement and spoke anonymously because of agency policy, said that after the interview, Customs officials decided to deny Islam entry into the United States. Flight 919 continued on to Dulles after Islam was removed from the flight. Islam, who was born Stephen Georgiou, took Cat Stevens as a stage name and had a string of hits in the 1970s, including "Wild World" and "Morning Has Broken." Last year he released two songs, including a re-recording of his 1971 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. Islam founded Islamia Primary school in London in 1983. In 1998, it became the first Muslim school in Britain to receive government support, on the same basis as Christian and other sectarian schools. A statement posted on a fan-supported Web site where his music is promoted said Islam being on a watch list "is certainly an error." "It's also a very sad state of affairs when a man best known as a peace loving pop star can be grouped into the same category Osama Bin Laden just because of his chosen faith," the statement said. Islam drew some negative attention in the late 1980s when he supported the Ayatollah Khomeini's death sentence against Salman Rushdie, author of "The Satanic Verses." Recently, though, Islam has criticized terrorist acts, including the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the school seizure in Beslan, Russia, earlier this month that left more than 300 dead, nearly half of them children. In a statement on his Web site, 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 Quran equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity." --- On the Net: Yusuf Islam: http://www.yusufislam.org.uk/